


All is Fair in Love and War

by That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Godstiel - Freeform, Leviathans, M/M, Mind Control, Non-Graphic Violence, Profound Bond, Purgatory, Resurrection, Season/Series 06, Soulless Sam Winchester, Vampire Dean Winchester, eventual destiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-02-18 23:03:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 22,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2365238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl/pseuds/That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A season 6 fic that diverges from canon at 6.05</p><p>Basically, what would happen if instead of curing vampire!Dean, soulless!Sam killed him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! It's the first of my longer fics. Just a heads up this will be longer than everything I've posted so far (it's around 15k and I'm not 100% done yet). But I think it's worth it. Updates will be every other day and it will not be abandoned.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Also for the sake of this storyline the Campbells aren't really involved on this particular hunt, so the Winchesters don't know about the vamp cure.

Dean felt his new row of teeth fighting to escape his gums as Sam's heartbeat pounded in his ears. He looked up at his brother's face from where he'd fallen to his knees. Even if Sam had seemed off since he showed up at Lisa's to save Dean from the djinn, he still looked like Dean's baby brother. Except for his eyes. There was something different there, colder in way that couldn't just be from Hell. But that wasn't the problem now. He looked at Sam with a pleading expression. "Just do it. I can't go back to being human and I can't live like this. Just end it now before I lose control." He wasn't sure what he had to live for anyways. Who would miss him? He'd messed things up with Lisa and Ben. Sam and Cas hadn't bothered to visit him all year. And Bobby hadn't even told him his brother was back. He couldn't even hunt anymore; a vampire had gotten the jump on him. He had no reason to fight it. "Just do it!" 

"I'm sorry Dean." Despite his words Sam's face remained cold, without any of the tears or emotion Dean would expect. 

But before he could think it through Sam swung his machete and everything went black for Dean.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok thanks to everyone who read chapter 1/the prologue! Also to my subscriber (it doesn't show names): you're awesome. Now on to chapter 2! Most chapters will be around this length by the way.
> 
> Also once again in this story, the Campbells are hunting but soulless!Sam hasn't been hunting with them, so he and Dean would have had no idea about the cure.

"You did WHAT?" Bobby stared at Sam in disbelief, unable to process what he just heard.

"Dean got turned into a vampire. I had no choice. He asked me to do it." Sam summarized the story he'd already said and stared back at Bobby, his mainly blank expression unnerving the older man. 

Bobby eyed the younger Hunter cautiously from behind his desk, reaching for the drawer that held the salt, silver, and holy water. "You ok boy? I know you and your brother were close. Hell, you were family to me. I'm kinda surprised I didn't get a call looking for another solution."

Sam shrugged. "I guess we didn't think of it. I still have the body. I was planning on a Hunter's funeral."

Bobby tried not to think about Dean's decapitated body burning on a funeral pyre. "Alright. We can do that here in the scrapyard. How are you feeling boy?" He eyed the last Winchester warily.

"I feel..." Sam trailed off. He wasn't sure how he felt. He hadn't been sure since he got pulled of Hell. "Maybe it hasn't hit me yet."

"Your brother is dead by your hand and it hasn't hit you yet?" Bobby reached for more whiskey. He wasn't sure how he was handling this conversation sober. He figured he really wasn't handling it at all.

"I guess not. Ooh. Someone should tell Lisa." Sam's inflection was flat, like he wasn't nervous at all about telling Lisa that the man who'd lived with her and her son for a year was now dead. "Do you want me to do it?"

Bobby shook his head and finished his glass of whiskey before pouring another. "No, I'll do it. You go set up the funeral pyre." Bobby couldn't imagine Sam making the call. Not how he was now. The news would be bad enough. A seeming lack of sympathy from the man's own brother could only make it worse. Bobby shook his head as Sam walked out. Something was off about that boy, and it wasn't just since his brother died. He sighed and reached for his phone, taking another gulp of whiskey to prepare himself for a call he really wished he didn't have to make.

__________

Night had fallen and Bobby still stood by the funeral pyre, watching the embers die down. Sam still stood beside him, watching as the last of his brother turned to ash. When no more glowing sparks remained, Bobby turned to Sam. "Well, I guess we should head in and get some sleep. In the morning I'll call someone to get the vampire nest that got your brother."

"There's no need," Sam replied without looking at Bobby.

Bobby waited a moment to see if Sam would elaborate, but when he didn't the older Hunter spoke up. "What do you mean there's no need?"

Sam turned to face Bobby. "I finished the job. After what happened with Dean I found the nest and took them out. The job's done. I can take another hunt if you want."

"After what happened with Dean?" Bobby repeated as he tried unsuccessfully to hold back his anger. He'd been upset all night because his surrogate son had died, but Sam's nonchalance about it pissed him off. "You mean after you went and killed the boy who practically raised you when your son of a bitch of a father wasn't around, the boy who sold his soul for you? Now I know you've been through a lot, but you just haven't been the same since you came back last year. And I don't know if now you're just throwing yourself into the job like your daddy did, but it ain't healthy. You need time to mourn."

"I'm fine Bobby. I don't feel upset. Dean died and there's nothing we can do about it. Trying to bring each other back or going on a hunt for revenge just ends badly. So I've moved on." Sam looked at Bobby blankly; the older man couldn't read any emotion on his face. 

Bobby was not as calm. He had no idea what was going on with Sam, Dean was dead, and he just couldn't figure out the situation. It still felt unreal, like a dream. But Sam's lack of a response to killing his own brother really got to him. "Moved on? Moved on! It's been less than a week! How the hell are you not mourning or about to do something stupid?! The last time your brother died you shacked up with a demon and went on a self-destructive path for revenge! How the hell can you say you're fine?!"

Sam shrugged. "I just am. Like I said, I don't feel upset in any way."

Bobby ran out of patience. "That's it. You and brother were like sons to me, and I need time to mourn. I can't have you sitting round here like nothing happened. Just leave Sam. Take the Impala and go. I just can't be around you right now, maybe for longer than that. You just aren't you, and I can't handle that on top of everything else." Before Sam could respond Bobby turned around and headed back to the house, ignoring the man behind him. "Don't say anything to me or try to explain yourself. I'm not listening anymore." But when he reached the porch steps he did look back, only to see the taillights of the Impala pulling out of his scrapyard.

Bobby opened the door and sat back down at his desk. He reached for the whiskey and a glass. He couldn't handle this while even mildly sober.

__________

Dean awoke in a strange place. It looked like a forest and seemed to be around dusk. Some part of his mind reminded him he was dead, the image of his brother's machete swinging towards his neck still fresh in his mind. But this wasn't Heaven or Hell; he would know. That only left one option. 

"Welcome to Purgatory, brother." Dean looked up to see the source of the Southern drawl and saw a man leaning against a tree. "The name's Benny. You new here?"

"Yeah. I'm Dean." Dean got up and looked around for others but saw no one. "So how long have you been here?"

"Since my nest killed me for leaving. Hard to tell how long that was. First thing you learn is that time doesn't happen here like on earth. It's always like this," Benny said, gesturing to the semi-lit sky, "never changes. No day or night."

"Ok. Any other rules?" Dean didn't know why this guy was talking to him, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to have an ally. 

"Yeah. Always be ready to fight and don't piss off the leviathan." Benny tossed Dean some sort of weapon like an axe with a blade on a long handle. "You know how to fight?"

Dean tried to hold back his scoff. "Yeah. I was a Hunter before some vamp turned me. I can hold my own in a fight."

Benny nodded with a satisfied look on his face. "Good. You'll need that here." He turned around and gestured for Dean to follow. "Now c'mon. Let's go."

Dean started to follow Benny, but then he remembered something he mentioned earlier. "Wait. What the hell is a leviathan?"

Benny looked at him over his shoulder but continued walking. "The nastiest thing in here. They can look like black goo or take human shape and eat anything that crosses them. Hope that you don't." With those ominous final words hanging over them Benny and Dean continued on in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow you guys are seriously awesome. Shout out to the 5 people who are subscribing, the person who bookmarked, and the incredible people who left kudos (their names are at the bottom). Seriously, it makes my day to see this stuff. 
> 
> Now, an update that includes everybody's favorite angel! (Well, a lot of people's favorite angel.)

Castiel was beginning to wonder why he hadn't heard from Dean in a while. Now that the human was hunting again he was likely to encounter something odd that he might need angelic assistance with. True, Castiel doubted that he would never get calls as frequently as he did during the apocalypse when angelic and demonic activity covered the globe (and if his plan succeeded he would never have to, not that he minded much). But surely Dean could have questions about his brother or some heavenly weapons or something. Castiel decided to look for him.

A quick sweep yielded no results. Castiel knew that the warding he put on the Winchester's ribs prevented most tracking, but he still had other methods of finding the Winchesters. He saw the Impala and flew down into the adjacent hotel room.

He found Sam alone in the room. "Where is your brother?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Hello is still the appropriate greeting, since you asked last time. But Dean's dead, if that's what you’re concerned about. He got turned into a vampire so I killed him."

Castiel stared at Sam for a moment. "You killed your brother?"

Sam shrugged. "He got turned by a vampire. We had no way of turning him back, so I decapitated him before he could hurt anyone. He told me to do it. Bobby and I gave him a hunter's funeral last week."

The angel was still surprised, but realized there was certain human ettiquite that must be followed. "I'm sorry for your loss." Castiel decided to make up some pretense for showing up. "Have you heard anything more on heavenly weapons?"

"Nope. But I'll let you know if I do." Sam turned back to his laptop, not even looking up as wing beats signaled the angel's exit.  


__________

Castiel briefly looked around Heaven for Dean. It was dangerous to let his guard down while the war was on, but if he found his friend he could seek council on his decisions. He was looking unsuccessfully when the realization hit him. Sam had said that Dean was turned into vampire. His soul would be in neither Heaven nor Hell. 

Castiel went back to his and Crowley's base of operations. The bright soul he raised from perdition and continued to rebel for was beyond his reach. He could not bring back Dean or let his friend live a happy life. What was the point of his current plan now? He had started it with the hopes of letting Dean enjoy his new life. Now his friend was dead with no hope of resurrection. 

Crowley returned from giving new orders to the Campbells to find Castiel still sitting there, thinking. "What's got you so mopey?"

Castiel looked up, schooling his features into a controlled expression. "Dean Winchester has died. He was infected with vampire blood so his soul is now beyond my reach."

Crowley scoffed. "Well. Demon blood for one, vampire blood for the other. What is it with those Winchesters?"

Castiel glared at his 'business partner.' "Do not make light of the situation. I am reconsidering our deal."

Crowley saw his opportunity to open Purgatory slipping and decided to act fast. "Now now don't be rash. I'm sure the world is still worth saving even if it's without your favorite human." He saw Castiel's glare lessen slightly as he considered the point. "Besides, you wouldn't want his life's work going down the drain, now would you? All that effort to save the world, only to have it burn because he died?"

Castiel sighed. "I suppose not. The plan shall go on." Castiel left to check on his troops in Heaven, missing the demon's victorious smirk.  


__________

Dean hadn't spent that long in Purgatory before he ran into his first Leviathan. He and Benny had just been wandering the forest like usual when they briefly split up. Dean had wandered to a stream to get the blood from a recent kill off of his hands when he heard a noise behind him. He instantly tensed and grabbed his axe. 

"Well what do we have here? Smells like fresh meat." Something that looked human started to approach him, but Dean knew that it couldn't be human. Not here. It sniffed the air as it approached. "Smells almost human. How'd you end up here?"

Dean sneered, attempting his normal bravado. "Not quite human, jackass." He flashed his second set of teeth to prove his point. 

"Cute." It smiled at him in human form for a second before tipping it's head back nearly ninety degrees to reveal a mouthful of large, sharp-looking teeth and a pair of writhing tongues. Dean had never seen anything like it in all his time hunting. 

He reacted on instinct and charged forward. He really didn't want to know what getting bit by one of these new things would be like, so he decided to attack first. He swung his axe and chopped off the creature's head. The body fell to the ground and released a splatter of black goo.

At the sound of the commotion Benny came running through the trees. "Dean? You ok? What happened?"

Dean was still breathing a bit heavily, adrenaline surging through him from the recent encounter. "Yeah. Think I finally met one of those leviathans you warned me so much about."

Benny came to a stop in the clearing and let out slow whistle when he saw the decapitated corpse. "Sure did. Not many people end up alive after meeting them though." He looked back up at Dean. "I'm glad I never met you while I was alive and you were hunting." When Dean didn't respond Benny looked around. "C'mon. We should get moving. They sometimes travel in groups."

Dean nodded and they left the clearing, Dean kicking the decapitated head as they walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also as always my stories are only checked by me and spellcheck because I don't have a beta, so let me know if I messed up and let a typo or something get past me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn you guys rock. More subscribers? It really makes my day to know that people like my writing so much. Seriously, thanks for reading and subscribing, kudo-ing, and bookmarking. You're awesome. 
> 
> Now, guess who's here? Bonus points if you guess who the new person is before the end. (Although I guess the tags narrow it down a bit)

Castiel landed in Sam's motel room after making sure he was alone. It was time to do something he should have done about a year ago. "Hello Sam."

Sam looked up, his expression completely blank as always. He didn't bother faking emotion around Cas, not that he'd seen him since he told him about Dean's death. "What is it Cas?"

Castiel almost appeared uncomfortable. "I may know more about your resurrection than I initially let on." Castiel looked up at Sam. He knew what was wrong with the younger Winchester, and that was why he had avoided him. He didn't want to see his failure and feel the guilt every time he saw Sam's blank face. "I was the one who did it. But I made a mistake."

Sam did not react to the news. He seemed slightly surprised, but not much else. Not that he could feel much else. "What happened?"

Castiel decided to be blunt. It's not like Sam would become upset. "Your soul is still in the cage. Upon my initial resurrection I did not have the ability too properly free you. But now I see the problems that your soul's absence causes, so I will do my best to retrieve it." At this point it would not be as difficult for Castiel. If he spoke to Crowley beforehand, he wouldn't have to worry about any demons bothering him on the way down. And with the added power from the souls Crowley gave him, retrieving Sam's soul wouldn't be as difficult. 

Sam stared at him for a moment as if mentally weighing his options. "So what, you put it back and suddenly I sleep, feel, and have a conscience like a real boy again? Won't there be any side effects?"

Castiel decided that he may have to be evasive here. He wanted to have one Winchester behaving regularly, and since Dean was in Purgatory he wouldn't be an option. "You will have memories of Hell. It could make you have nightmares and flashbacks like Dean had when he got back, but I could put measures in place to help block the memories. Otherwise, you will be as you were before you went to Hell."

Sam thought about it. Dean's death and Bobby's reaction to his nonreaction to his brother's death had been a wakeup call. He'd known something was different ever since he woke up in Kansas, gotten a motel room, then laid down to sleep only to realize he didn't feel like he needed it. He'd figured out that he was... different now than he had been before fairly quickly, but recent events suggested that how he was before might have been better. After all, a few hours lost to sleep each night might be worth everyone treating him normally again. It would be a nice change from the people he once saw as family fearing him like Bobby did now. Sam looked up at Castiel. "Do it."

__________

Although the passage of time in Purgatory was odd, Dean was sure that he'd been there with Benny for a while. They'd settled into a routine. There really wasn't much to do but fight, but they'd gotten a reputation as one of the toughest teams in Purgatory. There had been a few encounters with monsters who jumped at a chance at round two with the famous Dean Winchester, but those tended to end the same way as their first encounters: a victory for Team Winchester. 

One day was different. Dean and Benny were wandering around as usual when a woman approached them. She seemed different. She didn't try to instantly attack them like most monsters. She was also unarmed. But she was in Purgatory, which meant she couldn't be human and she probably was dangerous. Dean's hunter instincts told him to be wary, but he began to feel a calm contentment settle over him. He didn't want to attack her. She didn't mean him any harm.

"Hello," She greeted them. Dean saw that Benny seemed just as relaxed as he did in the strange woman's presence. If Benny seemed to trust her, Dean figured he could too. She turned to Benny. "Could your friend and I have some alone time? I have something I wish to discuss with him."

Benny shrugged. "Alright." He turned to walk away. "Later, brother."

Once they were alone Dean turned to face the woman again. "Hi," he said. 

"Hello." She smiled pleasantly at him. "You're Dean, right?"

A small part of Dean's brain wondered how she knew his name, but some part of him whispered that it was totally natural for her to know his name. "I am. Can I help you?" Part of him hoped he could, even if he couldn't say why.

She smiled that sweet smile at him again. "Yes, I believe you can. You know the angel. You should come with me." She held out her hand and gestured for him to follow her as she turned and began walking away.

Dean found his feet moving almost without his consent as he began to follow her. A moment of concern came up for Benny but it was quickly forgotten. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," she replied without turning back. 

"Ok." A quickly quieting part of Dean's brain was screaming at him to not trust this woman. He didn't know who she was or what she wanted with him. But the rest of his mind shushed that part and told him to trust her. She would never harm him. She cared about him. She could be trusted. But the distrustful part gained control briefly. "Who are you?" He hesitated, stopped following her as he waited for an answer.

She paused for a moment with her back to him as if considering what to say. Then she turned to face him. "Call me... Eve."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also just a quick note: although I will try to stick to canon (besides the obvious change where Dean died instead of being cured), I might end up messing with Eve a bit. That storyline had a lot of wasted potential, so I might end up embellishing her powers a little and potentially making her more of a smart bitch in the sense that she knows how to mess with people and isn't afraid to do it. Besides that, I try to keep the characters as true to the show as possible. Feel free to let me know what you think of anything!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I said you guys are awesome? Cuz you are. 9 subscribers, 7 kudos, and 2 bookmarks? I realize that's not a ton compared to some other authors, but a to little author like me who just started like a month ago It's huge. Plus the total number of hits for all my works is now over 1000! Sorry if this sounds like bragging, I'm just super happy that people like my stuff enough to read it, let alone subscribe and bookmark and leave kudos. 
> 
> Now, on to the chapter!

It was a while before Castiel had time to get Sam's soul, but not too long. He knew that the longer he waited the more damage his older brothers could inflict on Sam's soul, but he also had a heavenly civil war to fight. But eventually he had a break in the fighting that seemed like it would last long enough for him to retrieve the soul.

The first thing he did was contract Crowley. Although on his first trip to the cage he'd had to avoid demons in the chaos following Lucifer's reimprisonment, this time the King of Hell ensured that his journey would be uninterrupted. Castiel was grateful, as this meant that his trip would be that much faster. 

Castiel arrived at the cage near where he'd retrieved Sam's body and tried to cloak himself. If Michael or Lucifer sensed his presence and figured out why he'd come, he would never be able to reach Sam's soul. Castiel looked into the cage. He could see the remains of Adam, the youngest Winchester, and Sam's soul. The archangels were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were fighting each other elsewhere in the cage. 

Castiel had to be quick in order to escape detection. Although he wished he could save Adam as well, taking both brothers would be more likely to attract the archangels' attention. So after a careful check to ensure that Michael and Lucifer were truly absent, Castiel reached a tendril of grace though a crack in the cage. 

He had to be very careful when he reached the grace through. He could not risk any further damage to the cage itself because that could lead to the release of Michael and Lucifer and the apocalypse, which was exactly what Castiel was trying to avoid. He allowed his senses to lead the grace to Sam's soul. He recognized it from his all time spent with the Winchesters. Mindful of the damage already done, Castiel wrapped his grace around Sam's should and began to extract it. 

As soon as he started to move Sam's soul he heard the rumbling of an approaching archangel. He began to pull the grace and its cargo towards the crack in the cage more quickly despite the protests from the damaged soul he held. 

When the soul was nearly to the edge of the cage the rumbling grew louder, now accompanied by the chill that signified Lucifer. Knowing that the Devil would not be happy the soul was gone, Castiel gave the tendril of grace one last pull and it finally came free with the soul it held. He began to fly away as fast as possible, not wanting to have to face his brother even through the cage walls. 

He could still feel the icy glare on him as he flew through Hell with the injured soul he'd rescued.

__________

Dean continued traveling with Eve for a while. A small part of his brain wondered what happened to Benny, but the rest of him was too concerned about staying with Eve. He was safe with her. He trusted her. He would do anything for her. 

After a bit of wandering she led him to a chasm. She looked at him. "Your friend the angel has been doing bad things. We're going to pay him a visit."

Dean just nodded. A part of his brain latched on to what she said. His angel friend? Could she mean Cas? What would Cas be doing wrong? Sure, he was doing things up in Heaven that seemed to keep him pretty busy before Dean died, but that wouldn't concern Eve. What was Cas doing?

"Dean?" Eve looked back to Dean. He hadn't realized he'd stopped. "Are you still with me?"

Dean looked at her. She looked mildly concerned. He felt bad for worrying her. He shouldn't question her. It didn't matter what Cas was doing. Eve said he was doing bad things. She could be trusted. She should be trusted. Cas was doing something bad and they were going to see him. Eve would fix it. She was good. He was safe with her. He would do anything for her. She would never do anything bad. He would follow her and do as she asked. He looked her in the eye. "Yes. Whatever you say."

She smiled at him and he felt happy for making her happy. "Good. Now to get through you're going to have to trust me. Can you do that?" 

He nodded. Of course he could trust her. 

She continued. "This will be odd at first, but I'll make you a new body on the other side. Ok?" 

He nodded again, of course whatever she said would be ok. 

She smiled at him. "Take my hand. I'll keep you until we reach the other side." She extended her hand to him.

He took it and felt himself slowly get drawn into her. It was like she was absorbing him, but it wasn't unpleasant. He felt surrounded by comfortable warmth. Eve had him. She would protect him. She cared for him. He would do whatever he could for her. 

He heard her voice again. "Ok now Dean, stay with me. This part may be difficult." Then he felt an odd sensation, worse than angel flight until it suddenly stopped. There was a moment of distress before he felt himself calming again. He was with Eve. She would protect him. She would never harm him. He was going to help her. 

When his momentary panic was gone he tried to focus on his surroundings. He heard voices, including Eve's. He was only able to hear the last bit of the conversation she was having with someone, but something big seemed to be happening. Eve said, "We have so much to do. Let's get started."

A response came from somewhere Dean couldn't see, but he heard it. Two masculine voices responded "Yes Mother." 

But before he could think about what was going on he felt a wave of warm contentment wash over him and he drifted off, his mind echoing with the thoughts that Eve was good, she would protect him, and he would do anything for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And for those of you paying attention, this is where the mind control starts up (well it did happen a bit last chapter, but from this point forward it's going to be far more noticeable). Eve did seem to have some control over the various creatures descended from her, so I'm just expanding that a bit. Also for those of you keeping track of season 6 parallels we are around 6.12, where Eve comes through, with the exception that getting Sam's soul is a little behind where it was in canon. But without Dean there to make it happen, it probably would have happened later.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize you guys might get annoyed with me always freaking out over the new subscriptions and kudos and bookmarks, but it always makes me happy to see new stuff like that on my fics so I always want to thank the people who do it. If you think that's boring, you can skip the author's notes and probably do. But anyways, thanks to everyone that left kudos and bookmarks and subscribed. You guys are awesome!
> 
> Now, on to the fic! Sorry this chapter is a little shorter, but it made sense to cut it off here.

Castiel landed in an isolated place and studied the soul in front of him. Before he could return it to Sam, he would have to try to fix some of the damage done. It would be strenuous, as the damage was extensive and healing souls was far more difficult than fixing physical human bodies. But if he didn't at least try to fix the damage, it could destroy the younger Winchester just to come into contact with his own soul.

After trying various ways of healing Sam's soul, Castiel found one technique that worked. If he concentrated, he could transfer some of the damage done to Sam's soul onto one of the souls given to him by Crowley. Castiel was uncertain about the morality of this method for a while, but decided that the souls had been damned regardless and should expect torture. Also there were 50,000 of the souls to spread the damage across, so none would get damaged enough to lose power completely as Sam's soul healed.

Once he was satisfied that the soul was in satisfactory shape and would not destroy Sam from mere contact with it, Castiel flew off to find the Hunter.

It wasn't hard to find the remaining Winchester. Sam was staying in one of the seedy motels frequented by hunters and others trying to maintain a low profile. After spotting the Impala Castiel flew in to see him. 

Sam was at the table doing research for a new hunt since he'd just finished one. He looked up when the angel appeared. "Did you get it?"

Castiel nodded. "I can put it back, but it would be better if you are unconscious for the duration of the process. It will be painful. Afterwards it will be better if you stay with someone while you process the memories. Could you go to Bobby?"

Sam thought back to his last encounter with the older hunter. "That may not be an option. He hates me right now because of everything with Dean." He looked at Castiel. "Do you think you could explain the whole 'no soul' thing to him?"

Castiel thought for a moment, then agreed. "It would be best." He walked over to Sam. "We should start now. I don't know when I will have to return to the war in Heaven." At Sam's nod he knocked the hunter unconscious with two fingers to the forehead then laid him on the bed to return his soul to its proper location.  


__________

When Dean next awoke he was lying on a cot in an unfamiliar room and he felt odd. He sat up and looked around, then moved his fingers. It felt… different, but familiar from when he was alive. Wait, how did he have a body again? Was the past... he didn't even know how long it had been. Was it just a nightmare? If it was it was certainly different than the usual ones of Sam falling into the Cage or himself in the Pit. 

But then he felt the second set of teeth again and he came back to reality. He was a vampire. He'd been in Purgatory with Benny, but then that woman had come along. What was her name? Eve? Why did he go with her? He needed to get out. If he stayed here on Earth he could hurt someone. He never thought he would want to go back to Purgatory, but at least he couldn't hurt anyone innocent there. Besides, this Eve chick seemed suspicious.

Just then the door opened and the woman herself walked in. Dean's sense of panic and urgency from before started to ebb away. He was safe with her. Why would he question Eve? She only wanted the best for him. She cared for him. He should do as she said. He would do as she said. He felt bad for questioning her. He looked up to apologize, but she just smiled at him as if she already knew. Then she spoke. "Don't worry, I know you were only experiencing some confusion about being in your body again. It's ok, I know you'll be loyal to me." 

Dean nodded. Of course he would be loyal to her, she only wanted what was best for him and she knew better than him what that was. He stood up. "How can I help you?"

She smiled at him. "We're going to see that angel who's been hurting your brothers and sisters. He needs to learn some manners."

A moment of confusion popped up in Dean's head. He hadn't seen any angels hurt Sam recently, and he didn't have any sisters. What was she talking about? 

He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Eve was looking at him, mildly concerned. "Dean, are you alright? Are you just worried about what that angel is doing to your brothers and sisters?" Dean felt his confusion melt away. Eve told him before that Cas was doing bad things. And if she said Cas was hurting his brothers and sisters, then Cas was. Eve couldn't be wrong. She was good. She looked out for him. She cared for him. He should just follow her. She was doing what was best. He would do as she asked.

She smiled at him then and he felt glad that she was happy again. "Now, why don't we go find your angel friend before he hurts anyone else, ok?"

Dean nodded. "Whatever you say."

She smiled at him and he was happy he had earned it again. "Good. I know just how to find him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I'm messing with powers a little bit again. But I think it would be entirely possible for Eve to spawn a new body for Dean. And Cas was able to transfer Sam's hallucinations in season 7, so he could have been able to transfer some of the damage to other souls.
> 
> Or I guess I could just pull the "it's my verse so I'll do what I want" thing to explain the powers. Either way, I hope you enjoy the fic and you can always comment if have a question about something. I'll respond. 
> 
> And yes, Dean did forget Adam, who is definitely getting hurt by angels in the cage. But Eve doesn't care about that so Dean won't be thinking about that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double digit kudos and subscribers, plus bookmarks and a comment? Have I said you guys are awesome and make my day, because you really do. So thanks to all of you for reading and everything else!
> 
> Now onto the chapter. Bit of a cliffhanger, sorry. (Maybe not sorry.)

As he finished putting Sam's soul back in his body and blocking certain memories to the best of his ability, Castiel felt Rachel begin to call as Raphael's troops gathered outside their stronghold. He would not have much time to explain the situation to Bobby. He gathered the unconscious hunter, who was now just asleep, into his arms and flew to the salvage yard.

Bobby jumped at the sudden sight of Castiel carrying Sam in the middle of his kitchen. "What the hell is going on?" His hand closed around the gun under his desk.

Castiel ignored the threat as he walked into the next room and laid Sam on Bobby's couch. It was time to lie. "Sam needs a place to recover. I recently discovered that his resurrection was incomplete. Whoever brought him back did not include his soul. This absence caused the lack of emotion, sleep, and conscience. I recovered his soul from the cage, but he will need somewhere to recover and process the memories from the past year. I cannot provide this. Will you?"

Bobby stared at the angel. The idjit looked almost frazzled, and Bobby sighed. "Sure. Can you at least put him in the panic room? I don't know if he'll freak out when he wakes up and I sure as hell can't carry him myself."

Castiel nodded and disappeared with Sam, only to return a moment later alone. "Thank you for watching him. I must go now. You know how to call me if it is necessary." With that the angel flew off to war, leaving Bobby with the realization that he would have to deal with Sam's reaction to Dean's death alone. 

Bobby swore at the ceiling. 

__________

In the hours since Castiel left, Bobby had taken up vigil outside the open doorway to the panic room, sitting in a chair but ready to jump up and close the door at a moment's notice if something seemed to have gone wrong with Sam. After all, the boy and been off all year. Bobby thought he was perfectly justified in being concerned. A bit of that rationalization fell away as Bobby stared in at Sam's sleeping form. Despite being unconscious he looked exhausted in a way that made him seem vulnerable despite his huge size. Now that he knew Sam had a reason for being off all year, Bobby felt a little bad for how things had ended up last time they saw each other. He still wasn't happy that Sam hadn't looked for a cure, but on some level he could understand the purely rational thinking that had fueled Sam at the time. But he just wished he could have said goodbye to Dean. 

Bobby was drawn out of his thoughts as a shifting on the bed alerted him to Sam waking up. The younger Winchester sat up and stretched, looking around in groggy confusion. His eyes focused on Bobby. "Bobby?" Sam shifted as if to get off the cot, but stopped when he saw Bobby tense. "Bobby what happened? How did I get out of the Cage?"

Bobby sighed and stood up. It looked like the angel had blocked everything. He'd have a lot to catch Sam up on. "We don't know how you got out, just that it's been over a year. During that time you were up and hunting, but not quite yourself. Castiel came and says he fixed you, but I wouldn't go poking around in your head for information on the last year too much. It wasn't pretty."

Sam grimaced, not wanting to think about what could have happened. He looked back up at Bobby quickly as a thought occurred to him. "What about Dean? Did he make things work with Lisa?"

The hopeful look in Sam's eyes made Bobby's heart sink. "He did, for a while. A year in some djinn came after him for something he'd killed before and he got pulled back into the life." Bobby sighed and sat back down. "And there's worse news, so brace yourself." Sam tensed where he was sitting on the cot, and Bobby decided to just go through with it, but without some details. "On one vampire hunt your brother got turned. Being a self-sacrificial idiot he wanted to end it quickly before he hurt anyone, so the hunter he was with did him in. Dean's dead."

Sam visibly crumpled at that. The whole point of him sacrificing himself was so that the world would be safe and that Dean could finally live the normal life he'd wanted. The world may not have ended, but for Sam it didn't seem quite as worth it if Dean died young on a hunt instead of old and surrounded by family like he was supposed to. A moment later he looked up at Bobby with anger on his face. "Who was with him? I'll find them, and they'll pay. Why didn't they think of looking for a cure? There had to be a way to save him!" Sam's tirade ended when he saw conflicted emotion cross Bobby's face. Everything the older hunter had said combined with some fuzzy memories made the realization hit him. There was really only one person Dean ever hunted with. "Oh god." Sam buried his head in his hands. "It was me, wasn't it?" Sam didn't move as the guilt and grief washed over him. Bobby didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Sam could tell. All the old hunter did was get up and move to sit next to him, gently rubbing his back as Sam began to cry.

__________

Eve kept Dean close to her as possible as they approached Singer Salvage. Her control was weaker the further away he got, especially because his change wasn't complete. She could make him drink human blood and become a fully-fledged vampire, but then it would be harder to use him as a bargaining chip. The angel seemed to care for this man, so she had to keep it possible to change him back. 

She'd brought a few other children with her, but they were all slightly more expendable. Not that she'd want to see them die. She was their mother after all. But her goal now was the angel, and it wouldn't be too hard for her to get more to serve her. She'd already had ideas for new children who would be even stronger, harder to kill, and more bloodthirsty. The angel and his demon friend may have been the ones to start this but she would end it, even if it cost most of the humans.

But that could be her plan B. Right now plan A was in action, and all she had to do was get the humans to call the angel so they could talk. She gestured for her other children to stay back as she and Dean approached the house. Once they reached the porch and were standing in from of the door, she smiled at him. "Dean, please let us in."

He kicked down the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for Bobby and Sam to see Dean! Probably not how they wanted it, but Eve's calling the shots so they have to make it work. Bad timing with her interrupting their moment though. 
> 
> Stay tuned, it's going to get intense. I did warn you that my version of Eve would be a smart bitch that likes manipulating people...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems like every time I go to update this there's new kudos, subscriptions, or bookmarks. And it makes my day every time. So thank you to all of you for reading and everything else!
> 
> Now, on to the chapter. Get ready, because Bobby and Sam are going to see mind controlled!Dean.

Bobby and Sam both jumped at the sound of the door being broken down. With the increase in monster activities lately it couldn't mean anything good. They both grabbed whatever weapons were closest to them and cautiously began going upstairs, watching each other's backs. They stopped short when they reached the kitchen. 

There, leaning against the counter with his back to them, was Dean. Sam started to rush forward with a shout of his brother's name but Bobby grabbed him by the arm and held him back. "What are you doing?! Your brother got turned into a vampire then killed! There's no way that could be him."

At the noise of them coming in Dean turned. He did look almost exactly like he used to. Sam shook off Bobby's grip on his arm and cautiously inched forward. When he was within three feet of his brother he stopped short. Something about him was... off. "Dean?"  
At the sound of his name Dean hissed and Sam could tell now that this was not his brother, at least not the brother he remembered. Sam could see a second set of teeth. Sharp, vampire teeth. 

"Careful boys, he's with me." Sam and Bobby both turned as a feminine voice came from the side of the room. A brown haired woman in a white dress walked out from the shadows. "We haven't officially met yet. My name is Eve. I'm sure you've heard of me through my children."

Sam and Bobby exchanged looks, each trying to place where they'd heard the name. They'd been out of contact, but this had been big enough they'd both heard of it. Sam and Bobby realized it at the same time and Sam looked at her with wide eyes. "The Mother of All?"

She smiled demurely at them. "That's one of my names. And before you get any bright ideas you can't kill me. Even if you could, I have the place surrounded and they will attack if any harm comes to me. Plus, I've told him," she gestured to Dean, "to kill himself if anything happens to me. Which would be a shame, especially since I'd be willing to cure him if you work with me." She smiled at Sam. "You could have your brother back, and all you'd have to do is give me the angel. Castiel and I need to have a little chat about how he and his demon friend have been torturing my children." 

It was at that point that Sam noticed the machete in Dean's hand. He looked at Bobby, who seemed to be thinking, then back to Eve. "Can you give us a moment to talk it over?"

She smiled again. "Of course. But he stays with me so you don't get any ideas." She gestured for Dean to follow her. "Come along, Dean." He followed her obediently as she walked out of the room.

As soon as they seemed out of earshot Sam turned to Bobby. "What should we do? It doesn't seem like we can get Dean back without working with her. Do you think she can really cure him? And what was that she said about Cas?"

Bobby stared into the other room, where Dean still stood next to Eve. "I don't know about the angel. Dean mentioned him seeming different before..." His voice trailed off at the thought of the death of the man, now vampire, in the other room. He turned back to Sam. "I've heard that a cure for vampires exists, but I don't know if I trust her. She definitely seems to have whammied Dean somehow. It might be a good idea to call Cas just in case. I don't know what our odds of getting out of here unscathed are, but I’m willing to bet they ain't good. He could grab your brother and fly us out of here. Plus he might be able to fix him. And she could be lying about him working with a demon."

Sam nodded and they started to walk over to where Eve was. "Alright. We'll call Cas. But we can't tell him what Eve told us."  


__________

Castiel was in the middle of a strategy meeting with Rachel, Balthazar, and his other generals when he heard Sam's prayer. "Hey, Cas, we need you down here ASAP. We've got a major situation..." The prayer paused and Castiel could imagine Sam running his hands through his hair and sighing. "Alright I'll just say it. Eve's here with Dean. She resurrected him and he’s still a vampire but she says she can change him back and for some reason she wants to talk to you, so just come as soon as you can."

When the prayer finished Castiel looked up at his generals. "I have to go."

Balthazar and Rachel exchanged a look and Balthazar sighed. "The Winchesters, I'd assume? I'd heard rumors the older one had been seen again."

Castiel didn't bother denying his reason for leaving. "The Mother of All is on Earth. This is serious."

Rachel looked at him exasperatedly. "Fine. Go. Take some phoenix ash if you feel the need to. But you have to be ready to return if Raphael attacks us while you're visiting the humans."

Castiel nodded. "I'll be brief." Then he flew down to earth.  


__________

Castiel knew something was wrong as soon as he landed. His wings began to feel heavy, as if weighted down. He tried reaching out with his grace to feel for Sam, Bobby, or Dean, but felt like he couldn't. Something was suppressing his it. 

The answer walked around the corner, closely followed by Dean. "Hello Castiel," said Eve, "I've been meaning to talk to you and your demon friend for a while now. Why don't we go somewhere more private and leave the humans?"

Sam spoke up, surprising both of them. "What about Dean?"

Eve glanced at the elder Winchester for a moment and seemed to be pondering it for a moment. She then turned back to Sam. "He's coming with me. I'm not done with him yet."

Sam looked angry. "What? You said you'd let us have Dean if Cas came. He's here. Let go of my brother."

Eve smiled at him with a look that was really more of a patronizing smirk. "Aww did you really believe that?” The smirk left her face. “Please. I'm not some pathetic crossroads demon bound to their word.” She straightened up and her expression changed, and everyone could feel the old power filling the room. “I am so much more than that. If you really want your brother back the angel here is going to have to cooperate. But the details of that are a little above your pay grade." The smirk returned. "Thanks for helping me trap feathers here though." She shifted her attention back to Castiel. "Now then. My boys have some cars out back. You tell me where to go and we can talk this out."

Sam tried to lunge forward to attack Eve, but Bobby grabbed his arm. "Sam," he whispered, she has Dean. We don't want to do anything stupid if we have a chance of getting your brother back." Sam slowly settled down.

With the hunters temporarily calm Castiel turned back to Eve. He didn't want to go with her, but he had no choice. He could see that underneath the incomplete transformation enough of Dean remained for him to salvage. If he could lead them to Crowley he could possibly have the demon distract or separate them long enough for him to cure Dean. His only choice was to lead Eve to their base. Once there they could even use her to help them open Purgatory. It was the best choice. "I'll show you where to go, but we have to leave some of your guards behind. We may get attacked if it seems like an invading force." Castiel could feel the confused looks coming from Sam and Bobby, but he didn't have time to explain. He looked back at them. "I swear I will explain later, but do not believe anything she said to you and do not try to follow us." He turned back to Eve. "Let's go."

They left the house, leaving a pair of confused and angry hunters behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another (sort of) cliffhanger. Get ready because this story arc is getting intense (but the fic is far from over). Also, I have to say that I love writing the Eve scenes. I think I like my version of her better than the show's version. 
> 
> Anyways, stay awesome, and tune in for more of Eve, Dean, and Cas the day after tomorrow (as always).


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess there were mixed feelings about the last chapter. I got more kudos but lost a subscriber. If you guys want to say anything, feel free to leave a comment. There is a very high chance that I will respond. But as always thank you to my subscribers, bookmarkers, and kudo-leavers. You guys rock.
> 
> And if you noticed, that is a chapter count at the top now. I have finished writing and dividing chapters for this fic. So as you can see we're about halfway through assuming I don't make any dramatic changes. 
> 
> Now, on to the fic! Have a longer update!

When they arrived at the base he shared with Crowley Castiel knew the demon was expecting them. It was too easy to get in, even though it was only three of them on foot now. It had been mainly silent on the way over, with the only noise coming from Eve dismissing the guards she'd placed around Bobby's house then giving Dean instructions to drive them to the location Castiel specified. The entire time Eve kept Dean within arm's reach and Castiel could not catch the former hunter's attention no matter how hard he tried. Eve had him firmly under her control and Castiel couldn't break it. 

At the base the demons who normally patrolled the cells were absent, and Eve instructed Dean to break the doors on every cell to free her children. Castiel could only watch as dozens of monsters that hunters had been collecting for over a year were freed. They'd managed to recapture most of them after Meg's attack on the base earlier. He tried to console himself by reminding himself that they now had Eve, alive, and that she could help them open Purgatory and defeat Raphael. 

They entered the main room and were greeted by Crowley himself. Castiel could barely see the glint of a weapon sticking out of his pocket and hoped Eve wouldn't notice. Before he'd gone to Bobby's house Castiel had stopped to give Crowley some phoenix ash in case Eve came by. He was glad he'd thought ahead so that Crowley was prepared. 

Eve looked around the room, her eyes landing on the demon next to the torture table as Crowley's eyes looked over her shoulder at Dean. At his raised eyebrow she smiled. "As you can see, I came prepared. And I know you are too, so dismiss the demons along the perimeter so we can negotiate properly." After Crowley waved his hand and the other demons left Eve smiled. "Good. Now let’s skip the pleasantries. I know what you've been doing to my children and I know why. But I'm here to tell you to stop. You're going way out of your league trying to tamper with Purgatory and my children so it's in everyone's best interests if you stop now. I even brought a little parting gift for the angel over there." She smiled at Castiel and turned around to stroke a hand through Dean's hair, slowly circling him. "I know how much he means to you, and I can even turn him back.” She paused standing next to Dean with a hand on his shoulder. “If I don’t turn him back, well then I guess I can send him out to start a new nest and wait for some hunter to send him right back to Purgatory." 

Castiel shared a look with Crowley. He did not want that happening. He had to keep Dean here, where he could cure him. It was the demon who finally spoke up. "And if we refuse your offer?"

Eve smiled again, stepping in front of Dean. "Well then he won't be the only one going to Purgatory.” Her face grew serious. “I'll have my children change every human they find. No souls for Hell, no souls for Heaven. They will all belong to _me_. There may be anarchy for a while while everyone gets settled, but the world will be mine to do with as I wish because my children will rule it and both of you will lose the steady stream of human souls to Hell that has allowed you to rule and fight, respectively."

After another look to his business partner Castiel spoke up. "You're bluffing. Without humans your children will starve. You wouldn't let that happen."

Eve simply smiled at him. "Would I? I'm sure they would adapt. They're stronger than you think. For example, this one here," again she touched Dean, to time on the shoulder again, and looked at him, "this poor vampire hasn't had a single drop of human blood yet. True, drinking it will destroy any chance of changing him back and make him forever out of your reach, but I think if you say no I'll take him to the nearest town and let him drain whoever he wants. Regardless of age or where the soul is supposed to go. Maybe I'll have him change some people and start a nest of his own and have them feed on towns too. And then I'll let him out of my control just long enough to realize what he's done, just long enough for the guilt to hit him so he'll wish for death, beg to return to Purgatory. And I might just indulge him, even if it means he'll never see you again." She turned back to Castiel. "Would you want that?" 

Castiel couldn't stand the thought of an innocent dying, especially by Dean's hands while under her control. The guilt his friend would feel, especially if he created more vampires as well, would destroy Dean. But Castiel also couldn't stop until he accessed the souls from Purgatory to defeat Raphael. He noticed that Crowley had slowly drawn his weapon and circled behind Eve while she'd been focused on Castiel and Dean. Castiel just had to keep her distracted. He looked back at her. "Surely there is a middle ground. All we want from Purgatory is the power from the souls. We need it to prevent the world from ending. All your children will die if we can't stop Raphael. Is that really what you want?"

Eve shook her head at him, a disbelieving look on her face. "Angels. Always so power hungry and self-righteous. Do you even know what's waiting for you in Purgatory? You are in over your head. All I'm asking is for you to leave my children alone, and you can't even manage to agree to that? Stopping would benefit us both. In Purgatory there are things-"

Her tirade was cut short as she collapsed. Crowley stood behind her, staring at the dart filled with Phoenix ash implanted in her back. Time seemed to stand still for a moment as Eve began to cough on the ground. Distracted by her, neither Crowley nor Castiel saw Dean draw the machete. 

Castiel seemed to see it in slow motion as Dean decapitated himself, his corpse falling to join Eve's on the floor as she finally stilled with a blast of energy and a slight smile on her face still. Castiel lunged forward, still sluggish from Eve suppressing his grace, but he knew he was too late. Dean was gone again.

"Well." Castiel's eyes darted up to where Crowley still stood above the carnage. "That was quite the clever finale she had rigged. I didn't see it coming." The demon seemed to think for a second. "I suppose I should have used less phoenix ash. That was more effective than anticipated."

Castiel glared at Crowley while he stood up from where he'd fallen to his knees near the bodies. "Now is not the time for jokes. Our best lead on opening Purgatory just died and she took Dean with her. What should we do now? We'll have to begin research all over again."

Crowley shrugged. "I may have some leads. And don't get too upset about your boy toy. If we get Purgatory open, you can take his soul back and do whatever you want with it."

Castiel was not satisfied with Crowley's answers, but he needed to return to Heaven. He'd already been away too long. "It's not like that. I have to return to Heaven." He flew away before Crowley could say any more.

__________

Oblivious to the drama in the lab room, Sam and Bobby were discussing Castiel's odd behavior. Sam shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I swear, Bobby, something odd is going on. I don't remember much from when I was soulless, but I think I did something with Meg where Crowley had a building full of monsters collected by the Campbells and Cas wasn’t there but Crowley was up to something for sure. And who else could Eve be referring to as a demon torturing her children? Typically monsters and demons leave each other alone."

Bobby took a sip of whiskey. "This looks bad, and we need to look in to it. If that angel's gotten himself tangled up with a demon and they're messing with Purgatory, it can't end well. I know your brother had a soft spot for him but Castiel just seems a little suspicious lately. We'll have to keep an eye on him and listen for any Purgatory news. But we can't tell him."

Sam nodded. "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I loved writing Eve. Also is it just me or did it seem like a ridiculously small amount of phoenix ash could kill Eve? I mean in the show Dean took a shot with maybe one ounce of ash, which then would have gone through his digestive system then gotten dispersed amongst the pints of blood in his body assuming it made in in to his blood stream. Eve bit him and didn't seem to drink in that much blood, which means that she was probably only exposed to less than a fraction of an ounce of phoenix ash. But I guess with a show like Supernatural you're supposed to suspend disbelief and not question the logistics...
> 
> Anyway. Mini-rant over. We're still in season 6 and Dean's back in Purgatory, so you might be able to guess what will happen next...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys my friend Mary makes videos and she just made an awesome one for Dean to The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy that you should all watch. Check her stuff out at youtube.com/piratesofdoctorwho 
> 
> Anyways, here's the next chapter. And heads up, this is where things start to get vaguely Destiel-y. Well, more so than Cas totally pining the entire time Dean was dead and with Eve.

Dean returned to Purgatory. Even though he had been there for what felt like a long time before Eve pulled him back to Earth, it still took him a while to get back to his usual meeting place with Benny. He avoided the leviathans as much as possible until he finally found Benny again. He was still a little off from everything with Eve so Dean didn’t really want to start any fights.

Dean tried to tell Benny what happened after they split up and he went back to Earth because Benny was curious, but his memories were fuzzy. With everything that happened with Eve it felt like he had been a passenger in his own body. He’d barely had control of his own thoughts. Dean decided he didn’t want to talk about it, and Benny didn’t ask. Some time passed and things returned to normal for the most part. They fell back into the old routine of wandering and killing whatever dared to fight them. 

Then one day things went dramatically different.

It started off like a strong wind, blowing everything towards a certain point. It wasn't until Dean and Benny were nearly pulled in that they realized it was sucking everything from Purgatory in like a black hole. 

But the center wasn't dark. It was a glowing bluish white that Dean remembered from when Anna broke the vial Uriel trapped her grace in. An angel was trying to absorb Purgatory. In the split seconds before he was pulled in a few memories from his time with Eve clicked in to place. Cas and Crowley had been trying to open Purgatory. If that was angel grace that could only mean one thing. Dean screamed "Cas, you stupid son of a bitch!" as he got pulled in.

__________

Transitioning from Purgatory to inside Cas (and this was not how Dean ever expected that to happen) took some time. It was like hovering in an odd glowing nothingness. There was no way of seeing what was outside. The other souls of Purgatory were floating around haphazardly, although occasionally one would disappear for a while and reappear looking tired, as if their energy had been drained. Dean could also see the black goo of Leviathans lingering around the perimeter. He couldn't let them get Cas.

After an uncertain amount of time fighting through the space that must have been Castiel's grace, Dean reached a point where the light seemed brighter, as if he was in, or at least closer to, Cas’ core. He tried to communicate with the angel. "Cas? Is this you? It's Dean!"

At the mention of his name Dean felt an odd sensation, like he was being picked up and lifted through seemingly infinite space. After what felt like a long time and also no time, he was slowed to a stop in front of what appeared to be a large version of Castiel's face and he felt as if he was being held in place on a large hand. The large face began to speak. "Dean? I am no longer just Castiel. I am God."

Dean found that Castiel's stare was even more unnerving when each eye seemed as big as him. "Ok sure but Cas I gotta warn you there are things in Purgatory-"

"I am God, not just ‘Cas’ as you say.” The floating face seemed to tilt like an odd imitation of Cas’ head tilt. “You still contain a vampiric taint. Let me fix that." Dean felt a blast of grace move through him and tried not to scream as it burned away a part of him. After he felt different; he ran his tongue over his gums and found no second set of teeth. The look of concentration on the giant face eased into one of smugness. "There." Not-quite-Cas spoke up. "I have fixed you."

Momentarily distracted from his warning, Dean stared at the face. "Wait, if I'm not a vampire anymore, does that mean my soul's supposed to go upstairs?” A moment of dread hit him. “Or downstairs?" 

Dean felt tendrils of grace (or whatever it was) wrap around him tightly as the face stared him down possessively. "No. You will never return to Hell again." The voice boomed. "You are mine, and you will stay with me. You cannot leave now that I finally have you. I will make you a body befitting the beloved of a god later, but until then your soul will remain with me."

From where he was being held Dean tried to move but found he couldn’t. “Ok this is getting a little weird, but I seriously have to tell you something. Cas-“

He was interrupted once again, the voice gaining a loud echoing quality. “I have told you I am no longer merely Castiel. I am God and will be treated as such.”

Dean raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Alright, whatever. But the point is, there’s more in Purgatory than just souls. There’s these monsters called leviathans and they’re old and you really gotta be careful because they’re strong and-”

The face before him scoffed. “I am God. Nothing can present a true challenge to me. You should rest, beloved.”

Dean wanted to object that he was a soul and didn’t require sleep (or at least he hadn’t any other time he died and went to an afterlife), but he felt himself losing consciousness as he was drawn deeper into the glow of what was left of the angel’s grace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Godstiel has Dean. Now the question is if he'll listen. 
> 
> Alright guys as always feel free to let me know what you think. And seriously, check out the video cuz it's awesome.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Thanks for the new kudos and bookmarks. The fact that you guys are so awesome and seem to like this fic is the reason I'm updating today even though I have 2 midterms tomorrow. I probably should have waited and updated tomorrow, but hey, I never said I had my priorities straight. Seriously guys, I'm not a role model. But tales of college life aside, thanks to all of my loyal readers. I can't believe this has almost 400 hits! (399 as of me posting this)
> 
> But I'm sure most of you don't read my ramble-y author's notes, so I'll get down to what you came for. On to the story!

As soon as he awoke, Dean could tell something was wrong. The blinding blueish white light of before was now reduced to a dull glow. Castiel felt weaker, as if the souls or something else from Purgatory was wearing him down. Some time had clearly passed since the last time they spoke. Dean started to worry. "Cas, or God, or whatever," he called out cautiously, "what's going on?"

This time the Castiel that met him was normal sized. "Dean!" He cried and embraced his friend. "Oh I am so glad you are alright." He carefully disentangled himself from his friend but kept his hands on Dean's shoulders. "Something is wrong, there's something here fighting me for control and I do not know if I hold out much longer. They keep taking over for brief amounts of time and I just wake up surrounded by carnage. What do I do?"

Dean looked the panicked angel in the eye. "Ok first, calm down. I think I know what we're dealing with. In Purgatory I encountered these things called leviathans that were blood thirsty and hard to kill. I tried to tell you earlier, but you seemed a bit off.” Dean gave Castiel a look and the angel looked ashamed, dropping his hands back to his sides. Dean grabbed Cas' shoulder to get his attention again. “We have to get them back to Purgatory before they can start attacking humans. You'll have to get in touch with Sam and Bobby to see if they can help if you need it. I mean, you opened Purgatory once, how hard can it be to do it again?"

A flash of guilt crossed Cas' face at the mention of the other hunters. "Things between me and the others are... difficult. But we may need more help than them."

Dean shook his head. "We can't let these things get loose Cas, they'll eat everything. Call up Death if you have to, just don't let them out."

Castiel nodded. "Alright Dean, I'll do my best."

__________

The call from Cas surprised Sam. They hadn’t talked since the angel began calling himself god and began alternating between miracles and murders. Things had become a bit strained during the Eve fiasco, and afterwards things had just gotten worse as he and Bobby confronted Cas about working with Crowley. After that they began actively working against the angel to stop him from opening Purgatory. Sam remembered how terrible things had gone the last time one of them worked with a demon and opened a portal to another dimension. He’d tried warning Cas about repeating his mistake, but it didn’t work. Things between them just weren’t the same with Dean gone. He’d always been the mediator between feuding family members. 

But When Cas showed up, Sam could tell he needed help. The news of massacres by a man in a trench coat had been coming more frequently, and Sam knew it meant something was wrong. So he talked Bobby into helping Cas even though the older hunter had been skeptical. 

When they finally arrived at Cas’ secret HQ, Sam was surprised to see Cas already drawing symbols on the walls. He was even more surprised when he saw Death waiting there, eating a bag of fried food. 

Castiel began to explain the situation as quickly as he could. “We have to open Purgatory again so I can return the souls and everything else that came through, or we could all die. Dean has informed me that there are other, older monsters that could start a new apocalypse that came through from Purgatory with the souls. Death is here to create an eclipse.”

The Horseman in the corner spoke up. “Yes, and that eclipse will be in a few minutes, so get started.”

Sam glanced over at Death and back to Cas, who was handing the chant to Bobby. “Wait. One thing. Dean’s talking to you? How?”

Cas cast a look at the Winchester suggesting that they had more important things to be concerned with, but replied anyway. “His soul was in Purgatory when I absorbed it. He warned me about the leviathans, who I am currently attempting to contain. Bobby, begin the chant.”

The older hunter began and the sigils started to glow, but Sam was still had one question. “How is he?” The question was quiet, reluctant.

Cas looked over at Sam, his expression strained with the effort of holding back the leviathans but oddly serene. “While I had more power, I cleansed him of the vampiric taint. His soul will go to where it belongs, in Heaven.”

At that moment the room went dark with the eclipse and Bobby finished chanting. The wall with the sigil fell away and Castiel screamed as the souls left him in a stream of light.

The angel collapsed but quickly got up and moved towards the still open portal. With one last apologetic look at Bobby and Sam, Castiel crossed through the portal the instant before it closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this seems a little rushed guys. I originally wrote this on my school-issued computer the night before I had to turn it back in during the wee hours of the morning while sleep deprived. And yes, I was writing fan fiction that featured a semi-blasphemous homosexual relationship between an angel that declared himself god and a human that went to hell then became a vampire then a human again on a computer issued by my Catholic high school for the purpose of schoolwork. Like I said, probably not a good role model.
> 
> Anyways, most of you probably skip over the adventures of me in the notes, but as usual let me know what you think and thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next update, potentially different bat-time, same bat-channel. (And if you get that reference then bonus nerd points for you)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Thank you for the new kudos and bookmarks, you guys are awesome! As you can see I survived midterms and I am back to bring you another chapter.
> 
> Now on to the part that you actually read:

Dean was surprised to be back in Purgatory when Cas released the souls. He was no longer a vampire, but he must have been caught in the flow of souls. He was also surprised to see Cas follow him in.

That surprise quickly turned to concern as Cas staggered into the nearest stream and collapsed in it face first in the deepest part. The black explosion that burst out of him was certainly not comforting. But when Dean waded into the water and pulled Cas out, he was relieved to see that the angel was still breathing. Even better, he seemed to be healing. He still had angel mojo. 

Dean sat on the side of the river and waited for Castiel to regain consciousness. He had to fight off several monsters while he waited. He tensed up when he heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. He stood and prepared to attack.

The figure that emerged from the bush held his hands up to show he meant no harm. "Easy brother, it's just me." 

Dean nearly collapsed in relief when he saw it was Benny. "Dammit man, you freaked me out."

Benny ignored Dean in favor of crouching next to Cas. "So this is the angel that decided to eat Purgatory?"

Dean tensed again and began to raise his axe cautiously. "What if he is?"

Benny once again held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Nothing. Just that he might be human enough to get us through the portal out of here."

Dean looked at Benny. He remembered the vampire mentioning a portal at a few other points, but he hadn't really paid attention. "Benny, he made me human again. I could get us out."

Benny looked between the two of them and seemed to consider it, then shook his head. "Gotta have a body to take others out. You could get out yourself, but you couldn't take anyone."

At that point Cas woke up with a gasp and backed away from Benny towards Dean. He eyed the vampire warily. "Dean, who's this?" 

Benny stood up from his crouch. "I'm the one who knows the way out. I've also been here in Purgatory with Dean for a while now. Who're you?"

After a glance at Dean to confirm he knew Benny, at which point Dean nodded, Castiel stood up. "I'm Castiel."

Sensing a bit of tension between the vampire and the angel, Dean interrupted them. "Cas, Benny thinks he knows a way out. There's a portal that takes humans out. He thinks it could work for us."

Castiel looked skeptically between Benny and Dean. “I’m not human.”

Benny spoke up then. “All you need is a human body, which you seem to have.”

Castiel looked at Dean for a moment as if to ascertain if the Hunter trusted the vampire. When it seemed like Dean did, the angel nodded. "Alright. Lead the way."  


__________

It took them a long time to get to the portal. In the meantime they fought off monsters and leviathans, all eager to get their group because Dean was human and Cas was an angel. More specifically, Castiel was the angel that ate them and used their energy to the monster souls and the angel that showed them Earth but put them back in Purgatory to the leviathans. Everyone had some sort of vendetta against Cas, but their little group managed to fight them off, even if Dean’s reflexes were back to human speed instead of vampire quickness.

Although they fought together, there was still a lot of tension in the group. Benny seemed reluctant to trust Cas because he’d sucked up Purgatory for fuel, but also recognized that Cas could be his only way out. Cas was just distrustful of Benny because he didn’t know him and hadn’t heard of the portal before, which made him think it was a trap. Dean found himself once again playing mediator as they argued almost constantly. But after saving each other (and Dean himself) a few times, they slowly started to trust each other.

After following Benny's directions for an unknown amount of time, they could finally see the portal.

Dean looked at Benny and Cas. "How are we supposed to do this?"

Benny looked at them both, then pointed to Cas. "He's gotta ferry us out. He may be an angel, but he's the only one with a human body. I know the spell we have to say, so let me do it first and then you two do it. Afterwards you," he looked at Cas, "just have to walk up that ridge and through the portal. Once we're through you just have to drop me off at my bones, say the counter spell to release me, and then you two can do whatever you want. But let's get going before anything comes to get us."

Dean made sure they weren’t attacked while Cas did the spell and absorbed Benny. Luckily the coast seemed clear. Dean turned to Cas to find the angel looking at him intently. “Dean, while I was… god, did I say anything to you?” 

Dean looked around, listening for any incoming monsters as he walked up to the angel. “Cas, now really isn’t the time. Maybe we can talk when we’re out of monsterland?”

Cas looked a little hesitant but nodded. “I suppose that is better. We should perform the spell.”

At that point a rustling came from the trees nearby, so Dean and Cas hurriedly cut their arms, grabbed each other’s forearms, and said the incantation.

As he was sucked into his friend’s arm, Dean had an odd flashback to the same thing happening with Eve, but he knew it was different this time. He knew he could trust Cas, and this time the feeling didn’t come from mind control. 

Then he felt the sensation of being transported again as Cas stepped through the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am aware that that isn't how the human portal out of Purgatory actually works. But hey, it's my fic. I can bend the rules a bit if I want.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've said this before and those of you that actually read this probably get tired of seeing this, but you guys are awesome. 20 kudos plus a bunch of subscribers and bookmarks and comments? Seriously, it makes my day.
> 
> Now get ready, it's about to get super Destiel.

The first stop was at the graveyard where Benny was buried in Louisiana. Cas performed the necessary ritual to resurrect Benny by saying the incantation and releasing Benny’s spirit onto his bones. Once he was revived, the vampire told them goodbye and went off on his own after promising to not harm people and to keep in touch.

"What now?" Because he didn't have a body, Dean remained in the back of Cas' consciousness. "I got a hunter's funeral, how can we resurrect me?"

Cas focused inward on where Dean’s soul was. “We have two options. I am weak, so I would not be able to recreate your body as I did for you after Hell. However, I do know some angels who, if they do not despise me for what I’ve done, would be able to assist in creating a new body for you. The other option is that I could release your soul and it would go to Heaven, where it belongs.”

Castiel could feel Dean contemplating it. “I don’t know Cas. I’ve seen what they have to offer upstairs, and it’s really not that great. But at the same time I don’t want you to risk getting killed just because you have to ask somebody who might hate you for a hand. Are any of your buddies still around? That Balthazar guy might help us out.”

Guilt filled Castiel. “Balthazar is dead. He was trying to tell me to stop my plan to open Purgatory, and… I killed him.” He hung his head in shame.

Dean took a moment to process the information before he spoke up again. “Alright then. I say we go find Sam and Bobby, and get them to weigh in. Maybe we can get them to trap an angel and get them to help. So we should head to Sioux Falls.”

Castiel nodded. “Alright. We shall consult them.” He began to fly to Singer Salvage.

__________

On the flight over, Castiel decided he would try to talk to Dean about what happened when he was god. Besides all the murdering, of course. They were finally alone and it wasn’t like the human could go anywhere. “Dean, did I say anything to you while I had the souls?”

The angel could feel the hesitance coming from the soul he carried. “Look, Cas, I know that wasn’t really you so I don’t expect anything said to actually be true. That wasn’t you. I get it.”

Castiel could tell this conversation would take longer than the flight to Bobby’s house, so he landed in an empty field so they wouldn’t be interrupted. “Dean.” He let a hint of authority leak into his voice. “Although I did not have full control, I was able to influence what happened at least somewhat. What did I say?”

Dean did something akin to a sigh and braced himself. “You… it… whatever… said some stuff about me being your ‘beloved’ or something. But don’t worry I know you weren’t quite you and you could probably do better and-“

Cas interrupted Dean by letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “Is that truly what you believe? Dean if anything I do not deserve you, especially after everything I have done lately. I killed, I lied, and I nearly unleased a monster that would have destroyed humanity if you hadn’t stopped me! I was conceited and arrogant and,” He paused when he felt anger rolling off of the hunter’s soul. “Dean, what’s wrong?”

Castiel felt like Dean would be glaring at him if he had a body. “Dammit Cas, don’t talk about yourself like that. Yes, you messed up but so what? We all have. Plus you were just trying to do the right thing and in the end, you did. That’s what counts, not all the mess ups and could have beens.” After that impassioned outburst Dean’s soul drew in on itself a bit and the glow dulled with shame. “Besides, I’m not much of a catch anyways. I’ve done some messed up stuff. You were there for some of it. You saw what I was doing in Hell.”

Dean’s words and mood filled Castiel with sadness and he reached out a tendril of grace to soothe his friend’s soul. “Dean, what you did in Hell did not taint you. Your soul is the brightest and most beautiful soul I’ve ever seen. And although I was not truly myself when I had all the souls, what was said was true.” The angel hesitated a moment before continuing. “I do… desire you, in ways I cannot fully comprehend. I love you, Dean.” The hunter’s soul was silent, although Castiel thought he felt the briefest flicker of hope cross it before Dean settled into a contemplative mood once more. The angel interpreted his friend’s silence as a negative response and began to speak again. “However, I understand if my feeling are not reciprocated and if you wish for me to never mention this again I will gladly-“

A burst of urgency from the soul he carried stopped Castiel and Dean began to speak. “No, Cas, it’s not like that. The feelings are so damn reciprocated. I just… I still don’t get it I guess. I mean, I always wanted to do something about how I felt, but I figured you were this great Heavenly badass and I was just some guy with a messed up life…” The Hunter trailed off, weighed down by emotion.

Cas decided that talking would not work well, so he had to show Dean how he felt to get the human to understand. “Dean, do you remember when I said we had a profound bond?” When he felt an affirmation from the soul he continued. “I did not mean that figuratively. If you’ll allow me, I can show you exactly what I mean.” When Dean consented, Castiel opened up the bond that had existed weakly since he first gripped the Hunter’s soul in Hell but had grown stronger with all the time they spent together. When it finally opened, emotions and thoughts began to race in both directions.

The angel felt the awe rolling off of Dean’s soul when the hunter was finally able to see Castiel in his true form and see exactly what the angel felt for him. Cas was overwhelmed by it, a feeling only intensified when he felt Dean’s feelings for him begin to flow back across the bond.

They stayed there a moment, basking in the sensation of the now complete bond, before Dean did what would have been clearing his throat if he had a physical form. “Hey Cas? This has been… absolutely amazing but now that I know this goes both ways there are some things that I really want to do with you that we both need bodies for, so I say we get this show on the road.”

Castiel smiled, a different feeling overtaking him as Dean used the bond to show him exactly what he wanted to do. “Let’s go.” And he resumed his flight, both of them enjoying the contentedness that came with finally admitting their emotions and finding them returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason I just really like the idea of a bond between them like that. I mean, they both suck at talking about their feelings, so this would help a lot for them. Course 90% of relationship centric fics rely on miscommunications, so they'd miss that drama. But still, I like the idea.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh thank you for all the new kudos and bookmarks and stuff! It seriously makes my day and I flail around like an idiot when I see it. So thank you to all the awesome folks out there.

The rest of the flight to Bobby’s was peaceful, both of them content from the recent revelation. As they approached however, Castiel slowed his flight and began to feel apprehensive. Dean picked up on it and became concerned. “What’s wrong?”

The nervousness continued to radiate off of the angel as the house came closer. “When I last saw them, it was to release the souls. I may have visited them before that while under the souls’ influence. I do not know what I could have said.”

Dean attempted to comfort Cas. “Well, that wasn’t you. They’ll know that.”

Guilt rolled off the angel. “I also threatened them before I absorbed the souls. I caused Sam to experience his hell memories and killed one of Bobby’s friends so I could open Purgatory.”

There was a bit more hesitation before Dean answered this time. “We’ve all messed up. And you’re sorry and you fixed it, so I’m sure they’ll forgive you. Plus, you’re family.”

Castiel sighed. “I’m not sure that warrants as much forgiveness with others as it does for you, Dean. But I suppose if we ever want to resurrect you I must face them.”

The angel flew down to the house, where Sam and Bobby had been looking up information. The younger hunter had started to focus on research more than hunting in the time since Dean had died then Castiel had become god then entered Purgatory. He still handled the occasional small hunt, but nothing that would require a hunting partner.

The hunters were looking at an old book for information when Castiel landed in Bobby’s study. They looked up at the sound of wings and were both visibly surprised and reached for their weapons. The angel held his hands up in surrender. “Hello Bobby, Sam. I know it’s been a while and things were not good when we saw each other last, but I need your help. I am trying to resurrect Dean.”

Bobby eyed him cautiously. “How do we know it’s really you? You walked through that portal to Purgatory months ago. You may have popped in with wing beats but I think you need to go through some tests first.”

Cas nodded. “Very well. What shall I do?”

Sam glanced at Bobby. “Well he’s certainly not acting like he thinks he’s god anymore.”

Castiel hung his head. “That is over now. I was foolish and regret my mistakes.” He looked at the hunters, guilt and sorrow filling his eyes. 

The humans shared a look and Bobby sighed. “I’ll go get the holy water, salt, and silver. You,” He looked at Castiel, “stay right there. Watch him Sam.” With that the older hunter got up from his desk and went to get the necessary supplies. 

Sam looked at the angel suspiciously. “Did you say something about resurrecting Dean? Would he still be a vampire?” 

Cas shook his head. “No. When I… had the souls I cured his soul of the vampiric taint. The only problem now is that I am not capable of creating a body for him because I was weakened by the ordeals with Purgatory. And I cannot use Dean’s original remains because you gave him a hunter’s funeral.”

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment. “What about the vampire body Eve brought him back in? It seemed like him, minus the fangs and the mind control.”

Castiel considered it. “That could work. We would just have to locate the remains. Crowley may have done something with them.”

A thought occurred to Sam. “Wait what about his soul? I know he could be brought back without it, but if that year or so taught me anything…” He trailed off, imagining the things he’d done.

Castiel felt a stab of guilt at his improper resurrection of the younger Winchester and its consequences. “No, I brought Dean’s soul out of Purgatory when I escaped. He will be well and truly Dean Winchester, as he was before.”

At that point Bobby reentered the room with the supplies for the tests so they stopped planning. But as Cas passed the tests he looked up at the younger Winchester. The end of their conversation had affected their mood but both of them were eager to bring Dean back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short! I try to keep it consistent but sometimes the story just has natural breaks that make more sense.
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you think!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has over 500 hits! (503, but still awesome). Thank you to everybody who's reading and everybody who's leaving kudos and bookmarking and commenting (all two of you for the comments)! I really makes my day that you guys like my stuff.
> 
> Now, on to the fic! Now with more Destiel.

Once Bobby and Sam were more sure they could trust Castiel because he’d passed the tests, they began to brainstorm ways to bring Dean back. They moved to the kitchen table so the humans could eat and stayed after they’d finished. The angel and the younger Hunter had filled Bobby in on what Cas had told Sam while the older Hunter was out of the room. There was a pause in the conversation when he learned that Cas had Dean’s soul.

“What do you mean you have his soul? It’s not like how you ‘had’ all those souls from Purgatory, is it?” The older hunter asked, using finger quotes around the word had.

Castiel shook his head, a look of guilt again crossing his face. “No. I’m not using it for anything, merely… holding his soul, so to speak. I’m just transporting him temporarily until we can return him to a body.”

Sam made an odd face at that. “That sounds a little weird. Is he aware or is it like being possessed?” Sam shuddered a bit, remembering his own experiences with possession, both angelic and demonic.

Cas looked offended at the comparison. “He is fully aware unless he chooses not to be. I have been communicating with him mentally this entire time and he knows what is going on.” He paused, an uncertain expression crossing his features as he looked back and forth between the other men. “If you would like, I can let him take over so you could talk to him. Would you want to do that?”

The Hunters shared an apprehensive look. It had been a while since they’d seen Dean as himself, and that would be a good way to make sure he was ok and himself. After a moment of communication through looks, expressions, and shrugging, Bobby spoke up. “Sure. Let him say hi.”

Castiel nodded, and his body went slack only to pop up again a moment later, although his posture and expression were different. When he spoke, his voice sounded a little different too. “Hey guys. Hi Bobby. Heya Sammy.” When he was met with only confused and blank looks from the others Dean sighed. “Oh come on, I know things have been really weird since the last time-or two times I guess-that I died, but c’mon, it’s me, or at least my soul, and I’m not a vampire anymore either.” 

The way he acted was too much like the older Winchester for them to think it was anyone else. Sam immediately lunged over the table to hug his brother, or at the very least the body his brother was currently in. Dean reached up to return the hug as much as he could with his brother’s arms wrapped around his upper arms and torso. “Well, I guess this means you’re back to normal too. Something just seemed…off when you first showed up before.”

Sam nodded as he finally released his brother. “Yeah, I didn’t have my soul then.” At the shocked face his brother made Sam held up his hands to stop the questions he knew were coming. “It’s back now, it’s a long story, and you should really ask Cas about it.” The last part was said with a lingering note of anger and a slight glare thrown towards the body that currently housed both his brother and the angel. Dean felt a note of guilt from the angel. 

“Well I haven’t heard the whole story yet, but Cas seems sorry.” Dean at this point grabbed Sam’s beer and took a swig, the relaxed movement entirely Dean and odd looking with Cas’ body. “Man, I missed beer.”

Bobby snorted at that while Sam just looked annoyed with the stolen drink. “Well, that’s definitely Dean. Now we just have to figure out how to bring you back, boy.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, no offense to Cas,” he paused as the angel corrected him, “Or Jimmy I guess, but I really like my body better. So let’s get me resurrected again, ok?”

Sam and Bobby just shared a confused look before the younger Hunter spoke up. “Did you just talk to Cas?”

Dean nodded. “Yep.” He made a vague gesture to his, or Cas’ head, with his hand. “We got this sort of psychic link going on.”

For a moment the angel regained control to correct Dean. “Dean is referring to the profound bond between us.”

The Hunter regained control and rolled his eyes. “Whatever Cas, they get it.” He paused again as Castiel began to lecture him internally about the significance of the bonds for angelic mating rituals. The other Hunters just shared a confused look as a medley of expressions flashed across Dean’s face, ranging from impatience to embarrassment to happiness to annoyance until he finally spoke aloud, exasperatingly saying “Dammit Cas, I don’t think they care that much about angelic courting culture!” After he said it his face immediately went bright red as he looked between Sam and Bobby, whose faces went from confused to amused in a matter of seconds. 

Sam spoke up first, looking at Bobby with a smirk. “Well, that explains them bickering like an old married couple. What was the timetable for those bets again?

Bobby mostly maintained a straight face, but the edges of his mouth started to turn up into a smile. “I think you owe me twenty bucks. I can’t remember who else was in on it.”

Dean, meanwhile, looked affronted. “You guys were betting on my love life? Seriously?”

Bobby finally gave up trying to hide his smirk. “Boy, the only ones who didn’t see this coming was you and the angel. Course we made a bet.” Sam started laughing.

Dean just looked annoyed. “Whatever, I’m done with you guys. Talk to Cas.”

After a moment the angel regained control, looking slightly embarrassed. “Dean is… he…” The angel trailed off, unsure of how to continue. 

Sam smiled and patted Cas on the arm. “It’s alright. We get it. Dean just did the equivalent of storming off to sulk. Should we get back to business so he can get back to actually being able to storm off and sulk?”

The angel nodded, grateful for the transition and how easily the others were accepting him back and taking the news. Bobby just kept chuckling at Dean’s behavior. 

Once everyone had settled down, they began planning step one of getting Dean back: capturing Crowley to find out what happened to Dean’s remains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also just a random thing feel free to leave me a comment on this or any of my other works if you have a timestamp or something like that you want to see. It's not 100% guaranteed, but there's a good chance I'll write it up and post it. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry this is so late I was at ChiCon today and couldn't post when I normally do. But it was awesome. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to go to a con, take it. It's amazing to actually get so close to everyone (it makes them seem more real too) plus there's cool people, some of whom in costumes which are just incredible, and of course there's awesome stuff to buy. Also awesome was checking this and seeing more subscribers and kudos! Honestly though it always makes me smile to see this stuff and today it was just a great way to finish off an awesome day.
> 
> But, on to the confrontation with Crowley.

Despite his rank as the King of Hell, trapping Crowley was as easy as summoning him to the middle of a devil’s trap. Actually getting the information would be the difficult part. But they did have the element of surprise on their side because the demon didn’t know that Castiel was back.

Sam and Bobby did the actual summoning. It was decided that they should do it while Cas waited out of sight so they could surprise Crowley. The Hunters only had to wait a few moments by the trap painted in Bobby’s basement before the demon showed up. He looked down at the trap then between Sam and Bobby before sighing. “Is this really necessary? Last I checked, we were on good terms.”

Sam made a bitchface. “We need information. And don’t think we wouldn’t kill you in an instant if we needed to.”

A calculating look flashed in Crowley’s eyes. “Well boys, information always has a price.” He went back to a smug smirk. “And don’t be so confident in your disdain. You like me on some level.”

“That is not true. You are an opportunist who sells your loyalty to the highest bidder then manipulates them into doing your will.” Castiel chose that moment to make his grand entrance, enjoying the look of shock on the demon’s face. “After what you have done, we would not hesitate to kill you. After all, I still know the true location of your bones.” At that point the angel smirked slightly, the self-satisfaction rolling off of him in waves. 

At Crowley’s continued expression of disbelief Bobby looked at Sam with a bit of a smile of his own at how well that went before he spoke up again. “Anyways, we need information. And this time, no one’s soul is going on the line.”

Crowley glanced at the older Hunter for a moment before turning back to Castiel. “How? ...What? … You’re supposed to be dead! I heard that you walked straight into Purgatory! Angels can’t get out of Purgatory! Nothing can get out of Purgatory unless someone opens it up. And there hasn’t been another eclipse…” The demon trailed off, clearly confused.

Castiel maintained his calm appearance, trying to channel the aura of power that had surrounded him while he had the souls. “After all this time do you really still underestimate me? Now tell us what we want to know and we may let you live. What happened to Dean Winchester’s remains from when Eve resurrected him?”

Crowley’s eyes regained the calculating glint. “So this is about the Winchester again? What would you do if I said I didn’t know what happened to them? Some time has passed since then.”

Castiel stared him down and Sam and Bobby backed away slightly, clearly understanding that this showdown was primarily between the angel and the demon. After a moment Cas spoke up. “I would assume you were lying and I would retrieve your bones so I could start burning them one by one.”

Crowley stared right back, clearly trying to access if the angel was lying. “What if I moved my bones?”

Castiel scoffed. “I’m the one who hid them. You don’t even know where they are. Now tell us what you know, or I’ll have the Hunters here,” he gestured to Sam and Bobby, “start gathering the salt and gasoline. You will remain here until there is nothing left of you. That is your fate if you do not cooperate. Hell will most likely return to anarchy, and when or if you return you will have to fight your way to the top once more. If you cooperate, you can return to your kingdom.” When the demon did not speak up Castiel gestured to Sam and Bobby to begin leaving the room. “What will it be, Crowley?”

Crowley glared at the angel. “You never were the dealmaker in our arrangement. You have to offer something as an incentive, which you have failed to grasp. Even if I did know anything, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Castiel simply shrugged. “I assumed your life and your kingdom were enough of an incentive, but I suppose I was wrong.” He turned to leave but looked at Sam and Bobby, who were waiting at the door. “Sam, gather the supplies to burn the bones. I will retrieve them. Bobby, summon a demon to spread the word that the King of Hell is dead. That should start anarchy and civil war in Hell.” He glanced back at Crowley, who was scowling but still held in his trap. “It’s too bad you consider one bit of information more important than your life and kingdom. In less than an hour, you will have neither. Truly, you are the worse negotiator here. Goodbye, Crowley.” With that he signaled again and Sam and Bobby left the room. Castiel began to slowly leave until he was stopped by a shout behind him. He schooled his features into an expression of impatience before turning around. “What is it?”

Crowley’s scowl intensified before he managed to calm his expression. “Alright, I’ll tell you what I know, just call off the troops. I do have a kingdom to run.” He waited a moment for Castiel to call Sam and Bobby back in. Once he was satisfied that there would be no more plotting against him, the demon spoke up. “I don’t know the exact location of the body. After you returned to Heaven, I had a demon dispose of it because I assumed it would be of less value than Eve’s, which as you know I had them keep. If you’re looking for Winchester’s body, it’s probably in a shallow grave on the compound grounds somewhere. I give no guarantees about the condition it’s in, but it should be there. Happy?” He looked around at the people gathered when they did nothing. “Well? Shouldn’t you be letting me out now?”

A moment passed before Castiel turned to the others. “Bobby, Sam, summon Meg and tell her that the King of Hell is dead. I believe she could rule the realm adequately.” As the others left up the stairs Castiel turned back to Crowley and drew his angel blade.

As Castiel advanced on him, Crowley began to look genuinely frightened. “What are you doing? We had a deal!”

Castiel crossed the line of the devil’s trap and grabbed Crowley’s coat to keep him still. As he readied his blade, he looked at Crowley one last time. “Didn’t you learn your lesson last time? I don’t keep deals with demons.” With that he slid the blade between Crowley’s ribs and held it as the demon lit up and burned up inside. 

When the lights faded Castiel pulled out his blade and let go of his coat, allowing the body to drop to the floor. The King of Hell was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when I listen to a ton of Fall Out Boy when I write. It gets kinda epic and dramatic. But in all honestly I feel like from a story perspective, Crowley should be dead. I mean, Ruby only betrayed them once and she got killed for it. Crowley has manipulated them countless times but for some reason, they haven't killed him. I know it's because Crowley's a fan favorite (and don't get me wrong, Mark Sheppard is amazing), but I honestly think that storywise it's past his time to go. And I think Abaddon should have been on longer. But hey, wasted potential in the show is the reason why fics like this exist.
> 
> Anyways, mini-rant over. Let me know what you think! There is a nearly 100% chance I'll answer any comments.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Another new kudo means I'm a happy fanfic author. Thanks again to everyone who's been commenting, kudo-ing, bookmarking, and subscribing. I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but it really does make my day. So thanks!  
> Also no response to the King of Hell's death... unless that kudo was a stamp of approval, in which case glad you approve. But guess Eve's death didn't get much of a response either, so there's that.
> 
> Anyways, on to the fic.

Deciding who would look for Dean’s remains took a while. Sam and Bobby wanted to come, but Castiel pointed out that they probably wouldn’t be able to do much. Although they had practice digging up graves, they realized that wherever a demon disposed of Dean’s body probably wouldn’t be marked, and it probably wouldn’t be in a casket. It would be almost impossible to find using their usual methods, plus digging could result in them doing serious damage to what was left of the corpse with the shovels. The amount that would be left was also unclear. After all, Dean’s body had been left for around a year and it had been exposed to whatever would find it in the dirt. After discussing it, they decided it would be best for Cas to just go there and retrieve the bones. The lingering connection between Dean’s soul and his body would help guide him.

So finally they were on resurrect Dean Winchester, step 2: find the remains. 

Castiel landed near the now abandoned base during night so he would be less likely to be seen. He had one of the Winchesters’ duffel bags to put the bones in. He decided to start outside because it was most likely that the demons had just buried the body in a shallow grave somewhere outside. Once he arrived he began to walk the grounds and reached through the bond to communicate with Dean. “Do you feel anything yet?”

The soul still seemed a bit distracted. “Do you mean besides being impressed by how freaking badass my angel boyfriend is?”

Castiel rolled his eyes. “Yes Dean, besides that. And all I did was kill a demon. You’ve done that plenty of times.”

Dean continued to be a bit awed. “Babe, don’t undersell your badassery. That wasn’t any demon, it was the King of Hell!”

Castiel paused his walking. “Dean, Azazel ruled Hell when you killed him. Now can we please focus on finding your body?”

Dean sighed, or did the equivalent without a body. “I guess man, but the way you did it was badass. I got the shit beat outta me first, plus my dad distracted him long enough for me to get the shot. You just went for it singlehandedly, cool comment and all. But I guess we should find my body. There are so many things I want to do with you.” At that point he used the bond to show Castiel exactly what he wanted to do to his badass boyfriend. 

Castiel blushed a bit at the detail and surge of lust that came from Dean. “I see. Let’s get to work.” 

__________

After a while of wandering, Dean began to feel something. “Hey Cas, head to the left. I feel something over there.”

Castiel walked over until he heard Dean tell him to stop. He was standing at a perfectly nondescript patch of grass a few feet from the edge of the building. “Now what?”

Dean seemed equally confused. “I don’t know dude. I just feel the weird vibes pulling me in to here. Maybe use some sort of angel x-ray vision to look for bones?”

Castiel shrugged. “Alright.” He extended his senses, which were still present despite his diminished grace, to look for the remains. A few feet down, he found them. There wasn’t much left besides the bones because the body had been exposed to the bugs and worms in the soil, leading to faster decay than would have happened if it had been in a casket. Using a small amount of telekinesis, Castiel retrieved the bones and put them in the bag. Once he had them he opened the bag to ensure he had the right bones and that most of them were there. It would be less difficult to rebuild the body if more bones were present.

Castiel paused as he inspected the bones and Dean picked up a note of melancholy feeling from the angel. He didn’t like it. “What’s wrong Cas?”

The angel held the open bag with one hand and pointed to the skeleton’s ribs with the other. “These are your bones, but they do not bear the protective sigils I put on your ribs during the apocalypse.” He sighed. “It’s just another sign of how much thing have changed.”

Dean gave what he hoped was an encouraging nudge through the bond. “They may not be there now, but you can put them on there again. Hell, you can even put the handprint back on my shoulder if you want. Don’t think of this as a bad thing Cas, think of it as a fresh start.”

Castiel smiled a bit at Dean’s comments. “I would like that.” He could feel Dean’s amusement with the possessive happiness that ran through his grace at Dean bearing his marks again. He decided to change the topic. “When did you become so…thoughtful about these things, Dean?

Dean’s soul once again did the equivalent of a shrug. “Well, once a guy starts getting close to his 200th death it really makes him think about life. It’s too short to hide what you think. Plus, with this bond thing you can pick up on it anyways. And nothing like staying dead only to get resurrected, mind controlled, and used to manipulate the people you care about to make a guy appreciate being able to express himself. Basically it’s been a weird… life really, but last few years especially. Now can we get me physical again so we can do relationship things besides talking about feelings?”

Castiel chuckled. “I suppose Dean. I will fly us back to Bobby’s now that I am sure these are the right bones.” With that he took flight and headed back to Singer Salvage.

Once there it would be time for the next step: trap an angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And if you're curious about the timetable for Dean's body decomposing, I just assumed there wouldn't be much left. I did look decomposition up a little using a link I'd found, but I figure that around a year would have passed since everything with Eve. Some time would have passed between Eve and Dean dying and Cas becoming Godstiel, then from the show it seemed like Cas spent maybe a month or a little more as God, then most of it would have been them in Purgatory getting to the portal. I figure after that long, especially because Dean's body would have been just in the dirt and not a coffin to protect it from bugs and other things, there wouldn't be much left. However, I also make no claims to complete accuracy and if anyone has correct info on decomposition that they would like to share, leave a comment.  
> Also I am stretching canon a bit again with the whole "use Dean's soul to find his bones" thing, but it's established that there's a connection between a person's spirit and their remains on the show because you have to burn the remains to get the spirit to move on. So yeah, I am making stuff up a bit but I try to keep it based on things from the show.
> 
> Alright. Slightly gross AN on corpses aside, let me know what you think and thanks for reading! Only a few chapters left!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the new kudos and bookmarks! I can't believe this has reached the 600 hit mark! I realize that's because there's a group coming back each chapter and not that there's 600 people reading this, but that's still exciting that you guys decide to stick around. So thanks for reading everybody!
> 
> Now on to the fic!

Castiel spent a while debating which angel they should summon. He’d had to tell the Hunters about what had truly happened while he had the souls, all the angels he’d killed. And although Dean tried to reassure him from where his soul was still held inside Castiel, the angel still felt guilty. He had killed many of his brothers and sisters, and he didn’t know if the ones that were left would even tolerate his presence without killing him, let alone do him a favor. 

But they needed someone to rebuild Dean’s body, and Castiel didn’t have the mojo. After Cas told the full story of their escape from Purgatory Sam suggested resurrecting Dean the same way Benny was resurrected now that they had bones, but Castiel dismissed that because the bones they had for Dean were of a vampire body, although still his, while his soul was human. The disparity could cause complications and Castiel didn’t want to risk anything happening to Dean, body or soul. So they went back to discussing angels until they finally picked one. 

It was decided that once again Castiel would hide until they needed him. It was entirely possible that whatever angel showed up would sense his presence and hiding would be moot, but Cas’ grace was also greatly diminished to the extent that the other angel may not see him until he wanted to be seen. Either way, Castiel stayed in the panic room while Bobby prepared the summoning spell and Sam laid out the holy oil.

The summoning spell went perfectly. The angel appeared and Sam dropped a match, igniting the holy oil and trapping the angel. 

The angel in the ring of holy fire looked confused, but his expression changed when Castiel entered the room. Much to everyone’s relief, he seemed happy. “Castiel! You’re alive!”

The seraph nodded. “Hello, Inias.” Like they had with Crowley Sam and Bobby backed off and allowed Castiel to lead the discussion since he had more experience. “You seem pleased to see me, but I ask that you do not call any other angels down. Others will not be so…accepting of the fact that I am not dead.”

Inias nodded in understanding. “I will not tell anyone I saw you. Now, why did you summon me here?”

Castiel looked at him. “I need you to recreate a human body. I already have the bones.”

The lower ranked angel looked confused. “You’ve resurrected a human body before, Castiel. Why are you asking for my help now?”

The older angel avoided eye contact by staring at the ground. “I am not able to now. Absorbing the souls and my subsequent time in Purgatory weakened me greatly.” He looked back up, making eye contact once more. “Now, will you help us or not?”

Inias held up his hands in a placating way. “I will, but I may need guidance because I haven’t done this before. Can you provide that?” When the other angel nodded Inias looked down at the flames at his feet then back to Castiel. “Can you let me out now?”

Castiel nodded and signaled to Sam and Bobby. Bobby got a bag of sand and poured it over the fire to douse the flames while Sam readied an angel blade in case Inias decided to attack. When the angel only calmly crossed the ring of sand and showed no signs of attacking the younger hunter relaxed somewhat.

Castiel nodded to Sam and Bobby in thanks before turning to Inias. “Follow me. The bones are in here.” He led the other angel to the panic room and closed the door behind them.

__________

The bones from Dean’s vampire skeleton had been laid out on the cot in the middle of the panic room. Inias would be using them to reconstruct the majority of Dean’s body, but Castiel still had enough grace left to do the details so he would do the finishing touches, like the color of Dean’s eyes and the number of freckles. He’d already memorized them from years of staring at the human.

The first thing Inias and Castiel did was make the skeleton a human skeleton by removing anything that would indicate it belonged to a vampire body. On the skeletal level it was mainly the second set of teeth and few other details in the jaw area that allowed the teeth to retract. Once the skeleton was suitably human, Castiel began to instruct Inias on how to rebuild the body. 

It was a slow process since all the internal organs and muscles had to be rebuilt. But layer by layer Castiel led Inias through the process until finally instead of just parts there was a recognizably human body before them. 

It was still missing a few details that made it truly Dean, but Castiel could add those on his own. After once again swearing the other angel to secrecy, Castiel dismissed Inias. Cas wanted to call Sam and Bobby in to show them their progress, but Dean objected since he still had no clothes and would rather greet them himself. So after flying upstairs to get some of Dean’s clothes from a forgotten stash at Bobby’s, Castiel flew down to the panic room again to finish making Dean.

Because the only details left to add were mainly on Dean’s face, Castiel dressed Dean in the boxers, black t-shirt, and jeans he’d found upstairs. Then he carefully got to work on putting on the finishing touches to make Dean himself.

Although the man himself berated Castiel for the amount of effort he put into getting every freckle placed properly and getting every fleck of color in the eyes right, Castiel was very proud of himself for how Dean looked. Now all that was left to do was rejoin the soul and the body. 

He turned his focus inward, to where Dean was quite eager to have a body again if the emotions his soul was putting off was any indication. Fighting through the impatience, Castiel attempted to communicate with the hunter. “Dean. You have to listen to me for us to do this.” When he felt the soul’s focus on him Castiel continued. “I will be putting your soul back in the same way that I did after I raised you from Perdition. This means you will have the handprint again. I know we already discussed this briefly, but are you sure it’s alright?”

Dean responded almost too quickly. “Put it back exactly where it was.” When he felt the confusion from the angel Dean explained. “I kinda liked having a mark showing we’re connected. And you might as well put it where it was for nostalgia’s sake.”

Castiel nodded and got into position to return Dean’s soul to his body. Much to the Hunter’s amusement, it involved the angel leaning over the body and aligning his lips with Dean’s. “What are you gonna do Cas, kiss me back to life like I’m sleeping beauty?”

The angel scowled. “No, but I must return breath to your body and this is the best way to do it. Now be quiet so I can concentrate.” When the Hunter quieted down Castiel said the Enochian spell necessary to bind the soul to the body and bring life to it, then gripped Dean’s left shoulder to leave his mark and facilitate the passage of the soul into the body as he breathed air back into the lungs. 

He knew he had successfully raised the Hunter when Dean’s arms wrapped around him and he took advantage of their joined lips to begin kissing Castiel. The angel pulled away and saw a familiar smirk that he hadn’t seen on a real face for far too long. Dean smiled and leaned in for another kiss, this one just a quick peck on the lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Cas poked at the bond that still existed between their heads and smiled back at Dean. “Actually, I think I might.” When the Hunter began to lean in for another kiss Castiel put a hand on his chest and put the sigils back on his ribs instead. When the man looked at him with a pout of pain the angel grabbed his hand and helped him up off the cot and onto his feet. “Come on. Sam and Bobby will want to see you, and we should get you some food. Maybe even pie if you’re good.”

Dean smiled and flung and arm around Cas’ shoulders and pecked him on the cheek. “You know me too well.”

Castiel just smiled. “Of course I do. I have a psychic link to your mind.” 

They both laughed as they went up the stairs to see Sam and Bobby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick thing I'm going to be at a wedding this Saturday, so my update might not happen that day because I might not be at my computer all day. At the latest it'll be up Sunday, but I will try to get it up on Saturday even if it's around midnight. Just be on the look out for a late update. Thank you and as always, let me know what you think of the fic!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys so sorry for the wait! I didn't have time post in the morning because I was getting ready, then I didn't get back from the wedding until like 1 am. But before we get to the good stuff I'd like to thank everyone for reading, including the one new subscriber!
> 
> Anyways, on to the fic!

Sam and Bobby were in Bobby’s study. Despite everything going on with Cas’ return and resurrecting Dean, other Hunters still had monsters to kill and needed info so Sam and Bobby were doing research. Both men looked up as they heard footsteps. Castiel entered the room first, followed shortly after by Dean.

No one did anything for a moment, then Sam got up and hugged his brother. As soon as he let go Bobby grabbed the older Winchester and gave him a giant hug too. Cas stood by and let them have their moment since he and Dean had already had one in the panic room. 

Once the hugging was over Dean turned to Sam, a serious look on his face. “Alright Sammy, now that we’ve gotten the touchy-feely stuff out of the way, where’s my baby?”

Everyone laughed and Bobby muttered about Dean really being back before Dean gave Sam a look indicating he really did want to know about the car. Sam just shook his head and gestured for his older brother to follow him. “The Impala’s outside. I’ve been taking care of her, don’t worry.”

Dean pushed past his brother once the car was in sight. “I’ll be the judge of that.” He looked expectantly at Sam as he neared the car until the younger Winchester tossed him the keys. Once Dean was close enough he ran a hand along the hood and smiled. “Hey Baby, did you miss me? I missed you.” He popped the hood. “Let’s make sure Sammy’s been taking good care of you.”

Sam rolled his eyes affectionately. “I’ll give you two a minute. Hopefully Cas isn’t the jealous type.”

Dean glanced up from the engine of the Impala and tilted his head to the side for a minute before smirking. “Cas is cool with it.”

Sam just smiled and shook his head at his brother communicating telpathically with his angel boyfriend. “Whatever. I’m going inside.” He paused and looked back. “You better leave the car long enough for dinner later.”

Dean smiled at Sam. “I will. Only if there’s pie though.” 

Sam rolled his eyes again, but was just glad to have his brother back. “Jerk.”

Dean grinned. “Bitch.” As Sam walked away laughing he turned back to the Impala and began to talk to her about the state of her engine and how he would be treating her right now that he was back.

__________

Later that night after Dean was finally satisfied with the state of his car, everyone gathered for dinner. They spent the entire time catching up on what had happened since they hadn’t all really been together and themselves since before Sam went in the Cage. They had a lot to share, although they each had things they didn’t want to talk about. Sam skimmed over his time being soulless, Cas didn’t speak much of his actions in Heaven during or after the war, and Dean avoided talking about what happened with Eve. Bobby and Sam seemed a little surprised when Dean and Cas told them about Benny, but calmed somewhat when Dean assured them that the vampire could be trusted and would be checking in.

Finally, once everyone had finished telling what they wanted to of their stories and they had finished the pie Bobby bought, it was time to talk about what they were going to do. 

Bobby was the one to bring it up. He looked over to where Dean and Castiel were not-so-subtlely holding hands under the table. “So what are you two going to do now?” He looked at Castiel. “Are you gonna go back to Heaven?”

Dean shot the angel a concerned look at the question and gripped his hand tighter as if it would prevent him from flying away. Castiel thought for a moment before speaking up. “No. Not anytime soon at least. I did many bad things in Heaven when I had the souls and do not know what my fate would be upon returning.” He looked at Dean. “Besides, I would much rather be on Earth.” He gave the Hunter’s hand a squeeze.

Before they could get into one of their legendary staring contests Sam cleared his throat. “Dean, what do you want to do?”

The older Winchester shrugged. “Well the domestic thing didn’t quite work out last time, so I was thinking of getting back into the family business.” He glanced back to the angel sitting next to him. “With Cas of course.” He looked back to Sam. “What about you, Sammy? Want to get the gang back together and gank some evil sons of bitches?”

Sam looked between his brother and Bobby. “Actually, I was thinking I might stay here. I’ve been helping Bobby do research a lot and I really like it.” He looked at Dean. “But if you want me to come-“

The older Winchester cut his brother off with a raised hand. “Whatever makes you happy is good with me Sammy. I think we’ve been through enough to earn that.” Dean smirked at Sam. “The only condition is that I get the Impala.”

Sam laughed. “Fine. You can have her. She’s always been yours anyways.”

Bobby spoke up then. “If you want we could probably fix you up one of the cars here, Sam.” He glanced over at Dean, who nodded. “If both of us work on it, it shouldn’t take too long. I can let you pick from one of the cars here that’s in better shape.”

Sam nodded. “That sounds good.”

With all the major discussions out of the way, they talked for a bit longer before splitting up for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright after this it's just an epilogue. I hope you guys enjoyed. Thanks to everyone who's been keeping up with the fic and as usual, look for the next chapter the day after tomorrow!
> 
> And of course, let me know what you think!


	20. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is the end of All is Fair. But I'd like to say thank you to all you awesome people who have been following along and still leaving kudos up to last chapter! So thank you to all my readers, kudo-ers, bookmarkers, subscribers, and commenters. I can't believe how popular this got!
> 
> Now, on to the epilogue!

A few weeks later Sam’s car was ready. Remembering the car he’d had when Sam was hunting on his own while soulless, Dean found a Charger in fairly good shape and fixed it up, getting a little help from Bobby with finding parts. When Dean was done it looked like new again and Sam was impressed with it when he took it on a test drive. 

Once that was done Bobby found Dean and Cas a hunt to go on. It was a basic salt and burn, but he figured it would be best to start them off small since Cas didn’t really have any hunting experience and Dean had been out of the game for a while. They both protested, Dean complaining that he could handle anything and Castiel pointing out that he was still an angel, even if he didn’t have all his powers, but in the end decided to go. 

What they didn’t tell Sam and Bobby was that their first stop was a motel room. Dean had been promising to do all sorts of things with and to Cas while they were working on getting his body back, but once he had a body again they had to wait because they didn’t want to risk Sam or Bobby hearing or seeing anything. So their time at Bobby’s had been surprisingly chaste except for some make out sessions in the backseat of the Impala when Dean took her out to see if she was still running well. So if they didn’t leave the motel room for hours after they checked in, Sam and Bobby didn’t have to know. The Hunter and angel had years of sexual tension to work off.

Once they made it out of the motel room, they proved to be a very effective Hunting team. The bond between them allowed them to share information easily and warn each other instantly if something was coming after them. If anything did go wrong, Castiel still had enough grace to heal himself and Dean. Plus, the angel did have years of fighting experience in Heaven’s army, which, when combined with Dean’s years of hunting experience, made them a fearsome team and meant there weren’t many injuries in the first place.

Sam quickly became a staple at Bobby’s house and even helped him run the scrapyard. He only moved once Dean called him about their grandfather popping out of a closet in his and Cas’s motel room. Once they saw the Bunker Sam quickly decided that would be his new research headquarters, but maintained frequent contact with Bobby and shared information whenever necessary. Sam, Dean, and Cas moved into the Bunker, although the younger Winchester was sure to pick a room far away from the one shared by his brother and the angel. Bobby would visit them occasionally and deferred Hunters to Sam when he didn’t have enough information. But for major events Dean, Sam, and Cas would all get in the Impala and drive up to Sioux Falls to visit Bobby and Jody. All in all, things weren’t perfect and they weren't normal, but they were far better than either Winchester would have anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it! Also just so you know this story is done for now but if you have any scenes you want to see leave me a comment and I might write it. Or I might think of a scene and write it, so let me know if there's any timestamps you'd want to see. Same goes for my other stuff. Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> And for those of you who are interested in reading other stuff by me, I should have a new fic (probably a shorter one) up within the week. Plus there's the other already posted fics. I'm not quite done on my other longer ones, but I most likely will be by the end of this month, so be on the lookout.


	21. Timestamp 1: Henry shows up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everybody! In honor of this fic reaching 1000 hits, I decided to finally write the plot bunny I'd had bouncing around my head since I finished this. As the title suggests it takes place around the season 8 episode As Time Goes By and focuses on the arrival of Henry and Abaddon as well as the boys finding the bunker. There's also implied Meg/Abaddon and referenced Bobby/Jody in this chapter, but I'm not going to add those to the story description because it's so brief. 
> 
> And just so you know this doesn't fit exactly with the original epilogue I wrote, so I might go back and change it to include Henry and the Men of Letters.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this timestamp that's also nearly twice as long as the usual chapter length!

As usual, Cas was up before Dean. He still had enough grace left that he didn’t really need to sleep, but he still enjoyed the time to rest and watch over his hunter. Plus he knew Dean enjoyed sharing a bed for cuddling, even if the hunter would never admit it. 

So when a rattling sound accompanied by an odd glow and traces of magic came from the closet of their motel room, Castiel was already up and dressed while Dean was still asleep and mostly undressed in the single king sized bed. Cas moved protectively in front of the bed as the closet door swung open and a man in a blue suit jumped out. 

The man in the suit looked between Cas and Dean, who was now awake, with and expression of clear confusion. “Which one of you is John Winchester?”

“What?” Dean shifted until he was sitting up, revealing his shirtless chest. “Who’re you?”

Castiel squinted, doing what Dean deemed his ‘adorable head tilt.’ He may have more limited angelic powers than before, but he could still see souls to figure out a person’s identity and if they were human. What he discovered surprised him. He turned back to his hunter. “Dean, this is your grandfather, Henry Winchester.”

An awkward silence settled over the room while the Winchesters stared at each other in shock. Castiel cleared his throat. “Perhaps you two need some time to talk. I should-“

Dean’s head snapped over from Henry to Cas. “Don’t you dare think about flying off.”

Henry’s confusion only increased. “Are you being metaphorical?”

Castiel sighed. “Now I suppose we all need to talk.”

__________

Ten minutes later they were all gathered around the small table motel table eating the breakfast Cas had gotten while Dean got dressed. Henry had gone with Cas, eagerly asking him questions about angels to see how it compared to what he knew from the Men of Letters. 

After a few minutes of eating, Dean looked up. “So what’re you doing in 2013?”

Henry sighed. “I used a blood spell to travel to the future when the Men of Letters got attacked by a demon named Abaddon. I only mean to go forward one generation, but I must have messed up the spell.”

“You sure did, Henry.” Everyone turned around to see a redheaded woman stroll out of the closet Henry had come out of earlier that day. “But spells never were your best subject.”

The humans tensed, but Cas wasn’t fazed. He turned to Henry. “You didn’t say the demon that attacked was a Knight of Hell.”

The rank seemed to inspire more fear in Henry, but the demon just chuckled. “Bonus points for you. The name’s Abaddon.” Her eyes flashed black before she cast an appraising look over everyone in the room, lingering on Dean before turning back to Cas. “Well angel it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of you down here, but I think it’s best that you leave now. This doesn’t concern you.” She looked back at Dean with a flirtatious smile and a wink. “You can stay though green eyes. That pretty face of yours is just begging for a test drive.”

Before anyone else could react Castiel was up with a snarl. Between one blink and the next he went from sitting at the table to standing at Abaddon’s side and had his hand on her forehead. A moment later her body slumped to the ground. 

“Jesus Cas.” The seraph’s head whipped around to Dean, who looked a little shocked at how his angel had responded. “Did you just smite her? I thought you didn’t have that much juice to throw around anymore.”

“I did not smite her. I merely sent her back to Hell for Meg to deal with.” Cas calmly returned to his seat. “She threatened you, I couldn’t let her follow through with it.”

Dean sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Cas, we’ve been over this. I appreciate you having my back but a) I’m a big boy and can take care of myself and b) she couldn’t have possessed me anyways. I still have my anti-possession tattoo.”

A moment of understanding crossed Henry’s face. “Are you Hunters? You’re supposed to be in the Men of Letters.”

Cas looked at Henry. “That organization was destroyed in the late 1950s.”

Henry’s expression turned to one of shock and grief. “What?”

Dean sighed. “C’mon, let’s go see Sam and Bobby. I’m sure the research nerds will find out what’s going on.”

___________

When they reached Singer Salvage, they had a visitor waiting for them. Castiel tensed as he got out of the passenger side of the Impala. “Meg. What’re you doing here?”

The Queen of Hell smiled. “Relax Clarence, just checking in. Did you happen to send a Knight of Hell named Abaddon down recently?”

Castiel nodded. “Is that a problem?”

Meg’s smirk widened. “Nope. She’s an old friend. Don’t worry, I’ll keep her in check.”

Dean looked at her suspiciously from the driver’s side of the Impala. “How do you plan on doing that?” 

Meg gave him a lewd smirk. “Oh Dean-o, don’t you know a lady doesn’t kiss and tell? Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve got some things to attend to with the other Queen of Hell.” With that she disappeared.

Henry looked very concerned as he climbed out of the Impala. “Was that a demon?”

Dean looked back at him. “It was but…” he sighed. “Don’t worry. She’s a friendly. Or at least as close as they come.”

Cas looked towards the house. “Should we go see Sam and Bobby now?”

Dean nodded and they walked toward the house.

__________

Dean had called them on the way over, so Sam and Bobby weren’t too surprised to see Henry follow Dean in. Sam stood up to greet him eagerly. “Hi, I’m Sam, Dean’s brother and John’s other son.”

Henry nodded and shook his hand. “Good to meet you.” He turned to Bobby, who was still sitting at his desk. “You must be Bobby.”

The older man nodded. “Sure am. You’re the one who’s from the Men of Letters?”

Henry nodded. “The Winchesters are a legacy family.” He looked up at Sam. “If you’d like, I can teach you what I know.”

Sam and Bobby both perked up at that, but Dean just smiled and shook his head. “Hey Cas, let’s go outside and let the nerds have their fun.” Despite the hunter’s lighthearted look Castiel felt a note of concern filter across their bond.

Oblivious to the mental communication happening, Sam shot his older brother a look. “Some people like learning, jerk.”

Dean’s smirk didn’t falter. “Guess this isn’t the type of stuff I like to learn, bitch.”

Henry cast a confused look at Bobby, who shook his head to signal it was nothing to worry about. The oldest Winchester looked at the others in the room. “I’d also like to find out about what happened to the Men of Letters, if possible.”

Bobby nodded. “We could do that.”

Cas nodded. “We will leave you to your research then.” He looked at Dean and sent a questioning feeling across their bond, but the hunter shook his head and indicated he wanted to talk outside.

Once outside, Dean turned to Cas. “What’re the odds we can get him back to when he’s supposed to be? Dad died still thinking he’d been abandoned by his old man. Clearly it wasn’t intentional.”

Castiel sighed. “It’s not as simple as it seems, Dean.”

Dean’s expression grew annoyed. “Why not? You have the mojo, right?”

“It is physically possible, but there are other variables to consider. It is not wise to change the past. The last time I tried Fate threatened to kill you and Sam unless I undid the changes.” Castiel’s expression darkened. “I do not wish to incur her wrath again. She might make the same threat and this time I have less power to stop her, so she may follow through with it.”

Dean sent a comforting pulse through their bond to reassure Castiel that he was alive but did not stop arguing. “Yeah, but that was the Titanic. This is just one guy.”

Castiel’s exasperated expression made Dean reconsider his argument. “It’s not just one person, it’s one _Winchester_. The other angels and Fate may tolerate us altering the future but an attempt to change the history of your bloodline would surely lead to greater problems. And we do not know how sending Henry back would affect the timelines. Your lives would change dramatically, not to mention the impact if he managed to save the Men of Letters.” He sighed. “It is far too risky.”

Dean took Cas’ hand and pulled him in for a kiss. “It’s ok Cas. I don’t want your dick brothers coming after us any more than you do.” He turned his gaze toward the house. “But we’ll have to convince Henry not to go back. If he’s a Winchester, that means he’d do anything for family. So if he finds out what happened to John, he’ll want to go back.”

__________

Henry did attempt to go back after finding out what happened to John and the boys. But they managed to talk him out of it. Aiding their dissuasion was the discovery that Henry’s Men of Letters mentor Larry Ganem was still alive. He told them about the Bunker, the key to which Henry had managed to hold on to. 

They decided to go to the Bunker for the first time together. It was a little cramped with the five of them in the Impala, but they all climbed out quickly when they reached the door. They’d decided that Henry should do the honors of opening the door because he was the only one who was actually a member of the Men of Letters (although Sam and Bobby were very interested in joining).

When they finally opened the door, entered, and turned on the lights, they were amazed by what they saw. Sam, Bobby, and Henry quickly began exploring the Library while Dean and Cas explored the rest of the bunker. 

After a while they met back up in the Library. Dean looked at his brother with an expression of pure excitement. “Dude, this place is awesome. There’s a ton of rooms, there’s a kitchen, there’s even a dungeon like Bobby’s panic room! It might even be cooler than the Batcave.” He turned to Bobby. “No offense but this place might have your house beat for a hunting home base.” At Henry’s indignant sound he turned to his grandfather. “Alright alright you can use it for Men of Letters stuff too. Cas and I’ll just use it as a place to crash between hunts.”

“As full of info as this place is, I think I’ll stay in Souix Falls.” Everyone turned to Bobby at that comment.

Sam smirked. “That wouldn’t be because of a certain sheriff, would it?”

Cas looked up from the books he was inspecting. “How are things with Jody?”

Bobby scowled. “None of your business, idjit.” 

Once everyone had finished laughing, Henry looked up. “I would like to restart the Men of Letters here though. It would be small at first, but I’m sure you know people who would be interested.”

Dean nodded. “I’m sure we do. I bet they’ll be interested once they see this awesome Bunker.”

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother. “Should the Impala be jealous?”

Dean looked horrified. “C’mon Sam, nothing can replace Baby.”

Sam rolled his eyes as everyone laughed again and Cas pulled Dean in for a kiss. Eventually, they did manage to restart the Men of Letters from the Bunker, but that night they focused on exploring it, reading every book in the library, and for Dean and Cas, “christening” as many rooms as possible (much to Sam’s dismay when he walked into the bathroom at the wrong time).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! I can't believe how successful this story has been. And as usual let me know what you think if you haven't already and feel free to visit me on tumblr (that-one-curly-haired-chick.tumblr.com) or to leave comments here with other timestamps or things you want to see!


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